This maybe could have gone in GQ, but there may be no factual answer about the “best” option, so i thought i’d put it here.
This weekend, my wife and i are going to a wedding in a small town somewhere between NYC and Albany. On the way back, we’ve booked a hotel for Sunday night in Manhattan, and we’re going to drive down on Sunday morning and leave after rush hour on Monday night, giving us a little more than a full day in the city.
We don’t want to use the car in the city, so we’re looking for somewhere to park it from about 12 noon on Sunday until about 7pm on Monday. We thought about parking it over in New Jersey and catching the train into the city, but then i thought that some Dopers might be able to recommend a good solution.
Whenever I go down, I always leave my car in Beacon, NY. Parking is incrediably cheap (3.50 a day, free on weekends), and the round-trip train into Grand Central leaves once an hour for about 20 hours a day, and costs less than 30 bucks.
Not totally clear if you’ll be driving to the small town between NYC and Albany, but if you are, this would be a decent option.
I’m sure the hotel has underground parking, it’s not cheap but it’s not going to break the bank either. I stayed at the Hotel Pennsylvania for I think 3, or maybe 4 nights. Had valet parking shove it underground until I was ready to drive home. It only cost about $80. So one night shouldn’t be bad.
Well, in one way that sounds perfect. The town where the wedding is to be held is called Amenia, and looking at Google Earth it seems that Beacon is about half-way between Amenia and New York City.
The only problem—and it’s something that i should have mentioned in the OP—is that when we leave New York we’ll be heading straight back down I-95 to Baltimore, so leaving the car that far north of the city would involve quite a bit of extra travel.
For that reason, we were hoping to park the car somewhere in the city, or perhaps just over in Jersey somewhere, so that when we leave we can get straight on the interstate and head south.
I looked on the hotel’s website and couldn’t find anything about parking. I’d be very happy to pay for parking, if they offered it. I guess i could use a lot downtown. I seem to remember, on my last visit, that there were some lots down around Houston Street that charged about $25 a day or so. If anyone could confirm this, i’d be most grateful.
I called the hotel. They do not have on site parking, however the young lady I spoke with says there is a lot close by (about 2 blocks), that she thinks has a 10% off deal with the hotel. To the best of her knowledge the fee is between $30 - $32 for a 24 hour period.
Other option is to park the car at the Newark airport and take a NJ TRANSIT train on the Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast Line into Penn station.
Wow! That’s going beyond the call of duty! And it’s something i probably should have done myself.
Thanks for the information. If no better solution emerges, we might go with that option, although the idea of parking at Newark and taking the train in is quite appealing.
Parking at the White Plains station is pretty cheap (something like $4 for 24 hours, IIRC). And the train from there is only about 25 minutes, if you get an express.
All these suggestions are nutty. There is alternate side of the street parking in Manhattan (or a subway stop or two away in Queens, the Bronx or Brooklyn). Just park the car on Sunday and leave it until you’re ready to go.
Amenia is on the other line, harlem line, take rt 22 to Southeast station, formerly Brewster North. It’s right off of Rt 84, just west of 684m and marked from the highway. I am pretty sure that they have overnight parking, but check the metro north page.
Wassaic is even closer to Amenia, but they have far fewer trains.
As mentioned above White Plains doesn’t have overnight parking that I am aware of, but White Plains North does
Lots of New Jersey towns have free “park-and-rides.”–parking lots where you can park for free located at the NYC bus stop. Englewood’s is on Dean St, right off of Palisade Avenue.
Note that the Yankees have a 1pm home game on Sunday, so I would suggest not going anywhere near the stadium (I-87/Major Deegan) after 11:00, unless you really like traffic.
I’d personally pay the $60 for parking rather than have to deal with taking a train or bus to my car. You wind up at the mercy of the train/bus schedule, you have to truck your luggage around with you, and it adds lots of time to your trip home, which isn’t all that long to begin with.
Note that the Yankees have a 1pm home game on Sunday, so I would suggest not going anywhere near the stadium (I-87/Major Deegan) after 11:00, unless you really like traffic.
I’d personally pay the $60 for parking rather than have to deal with taking a train or bus to my car. You wind up at the mercy of the train/bus schedule, you have to truck your luggage around with you, and it adds lots of time to your trip home, which isn’t all that long to begin with.
I would avoid parking at Newark airport. The lots you want are $20/day plus you have to pay to get there and back. (The long-term lots are cheaper but even less convenient since they aren’t on the monorail.)
If you’re from out of state and you have a nice car, I recommend just using a garage near the hotel.
Parking out in the hinterlands, travelling in with baggage, changing trains, getting cabs, you’re really making a lot of extra work for yourself and the money you save will barely be worth the trouble. You shouldn’t have any trouble driving in on Sunday morning and after your splendid day in the city, you’re probably not going to want to have to take a bus to a train to your car, etc. Much better to just hop in the car and get on the road.
I think i’m going to take both of these suggestions and try them in order.
When we arrive in Manhattan, i look for a free spot on a street somewhere between 10th and 50th that doesn’t have street sweeping on Mondays. If i can find one, i’ll just leave the car there and head off to the hotel.
If it looks like that’s going to be too painful, and a place doesn’t materialize pretty quickly, i’ll just pay for a garage.