Say I wanted to drive to Manhattan to visit. The overnight parking rates are ridiculous, of course. Is there a good place I could park in New Jersey, and take public transportation into Manhattan? A street address or Google Map coordinates are a plus.
When I visited NYC (in 2003) we parked at Liberty State Park. Unfortunately I don’t know if they allow overnight parking, as it was only a day trip. (We ended up leaving between midnight and 1 am.) There’s a ferry landing right there as you can see on the map, which can take you into Manhattan.
Or you can take Light Rail (10 minutes) to Exchange Place and then PATH Train (another 10 minutes) directly to WTC. I was visiting Liberty State Park two weeks ago and was surprised how fast and convenient connections to and from Manhattan were.
Believe it or not, it’s not too hard to find free safe parking on the street in Manhattan. If you tell me a little more about where you are going, what time of day and week your are going, and how long you intend to stay, I might be able to give you some guidance.
If you feel that you must park in a paid lot in New Jersey, I would probably go to Journal Square in Jersey City. There are a lot of parking garages there near the PATH station, set up for that purpose.
Another option is the park and ride lot in Secaucus. As I recall, the parking fee also includes the fee for a shuttle bus to the Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan. It’s mainly intended for commuters though, so you should check hours of operation in advance.
I park at Liberty State Park, but it’s not for overnight. Park hours are 6am to 10pm and the police will be looking for you if your car is still there. They’ll pick you up and take you to it. Best to be on your way out of the park by 9:45pm to avoid such close encounters.
But it’s free and safe. The lot closest to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty has clean restrooms and drinking water. I have parked there many times, from early to late, weekends and weekdays, in the same parking spot, with my Pennsylvania plates – so I know police are aware both of the presence of my car and my own absence from the park – and have never had the slightest hassle from them or any other source.
Walk exactly one mile west out of the park to the Liberty State Park Station of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail. Or wait for the Liberty State Park shuttle bus which runs a circuit through the park to the light rail station. I opt to walk 1.9 miles, instead, to the Grove St. PATH station. From there, ride either to World Trade Center or as far north as 33rd St. in Manhattan.
The light rail will take you from Liberty State Park to Exchange Place PATH station, from which you can only ride to WTC. It you want to go to 33rd St., ride PATH “backward” from Exchange Place one stop to Grove St., then wait for a “33rd St.” PATH train instead of “WTC.”
It’s a cheap day in New York – no parking fees, PATH is $1.75, light rail $1.90. PATH runs with the same frequency as any of the subways.
Weekend or Weekday?
I can recommend two great methods.
Either use Hoboken and the same lots accommodate both the PATH trains and the Hoboken Ferry. This is very inexpensive and the Ferry is a great way over on a nice day. Bring your camera.
This leads me to the other option, but you will have to verify the overnight parking bit. Drive into Staten Island and take the **free ** Staten Island Ferry to Battery Park on the southern tip of Manhattan.
I have used Hoboken overnight and the ferry, it works great, but only if you get there either after 6pm or on a weekend. Parking is impossible during a weekday.
I have only used Staten Island for Day trips. I believe there is overnight parking, but I would verify it before driving there.
Jim
I agree with brazil that you should think about trying to find parking in the city somewhere. I do it all the time. Depending on when and where, it could be quite doable.
Since there are multiple correct answers to this one, let’s visit IMHO.
samclem GQ moderator
If you are staying overnight, are you in a hotel? They should have some parking or discounted parking.
If you are staying with a friend, then surely there is some parking in their neighborhood.
Thanks for all the parking tips. I haven’t made any definite plans for my NYC visit yet, so I don’t know whether it would be on weekdays or a weekend.
While parking lots in Manhattan are all expensive for overnight parking, many residential neighborhoods are surprisingly parkable if you show up at the right time. In my neighborhood, we can almost always find parking within a six block radius of our apartment before about 6:30 pm on a weekday, and have a decent shot before 8 or 9. (Weekends are a somewhat different kettle of fish.) One way to do things is to find out when the alternate side of the street rules (for street cleaning) are in effect in the neighborhood you’re going to be in, then show up shortly before that period is over; there ought to be spots available then.
Where are you coming from? If you are taking the train in anyway, you might as well drive to the NJ Transit station to your house and take the train in from there.
I would be driving from Ohio.