So today was my last day at work before the big move to New Brunswick, New Jersey. I work in a call center for a nonprofit consumer credit counseling agency. Incidentally, a new position just opened up on the East Coast in the Bronx for bilingual financial counselor. I asked my boss if she thought I had a chance of getting the job and she basically told me the job was mine if I wanted it. She said if the Bronx is too far they might be able to get me in at the Manhattan office. This would be a huge promotion and solve my job-hunting issue pretty quickly (hilariously, I would have to commute back to Michigan for training, but it’s expense paid.) I’m basically looking for something to pay the bills until I can start grad school next year. This would help me keep my Spanish skills in shape, and my income would double. I’d be working mostly normal business hours and I wouldn’t have a cube, I’d have a desk and work with people mostly face to face with an occasional phone session.
According to the Rutgers University Website, the train to Penn Station (right on top of the Manhattan office in One Penn Plaza) is 40 minutes from New Brunswick. The Bronx office is on Westchester Avenue, wherever the hell that is. Currently I commute about an hour to the Detroit suburbs, so I’m guessing my commute would be approximately the same. I was hoping for less commute time, but at least I’d be taking the train instead of driving. I am pretty sure that would significantly decrease the stress of dealing with rush hour.
But wtf do I know? I’m a small town Midwestern girl.
Thing is, I know nothing about the East Coast or public transport in NYC. For those who live and work in the area, is this a feasible commute? I’m not even really sure where the Bronx is in relation to New Brunswick or how much further the commute would be. What is the suckiest thing about commuting to NYC? Are the trains reliable? You know, I just want to know if taking this job would be a reasonable thing to do.
Westchester Avenue in the Bronx is FAR from New Brunswick. You would have to drive, and the drive would be an unpleasant one because of traffic, especially if you’re forced over the GWB and onto the Cross Bronx.
Where in Manhattan is your office? A 40-minute ride into Penn Station is not bad, and then another quick train ride will probably get you where you need to go.
-Scrappy, proud Bronx kid.
As the crow flies, it’s about an hour commute (if you were driving), from New Brunswick NJ to Bronx NY. I don’t know the Bronx well at all, but I lived in Manhattan for a while in the early 90s.
Anywhere in Manhattan is reasonably reachable from Penn Station, via subway or bus, and after about the third day, you’ll be finding your way like a pro.
Check into transit to the Bronx once you get to Penn Station - I have no idea what kind of neighborhood it’s in (Bronx does have some rough areas) or what the transportation is like though there are subway lines that go up that way: http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm.
It is a lot less stressful if you take transit, and there are lots of options for that with NYC. The hardest part can be fighting through the crowds - and also you’ll often have to stand vs. sit (no clue what the trains are like to that far out in NJ, but on the Amtrak trains I used to use to get home to DC, folks were sometimes standing as far as Philly).
If I read the OP correctly, the Manhattan office is at One Penn Plaza, so it’s right at Penn Station where the train comes in. So you’re just adding a couple of minutes of walking and fighting through crowds to get from the train to the office. No subway connections at all, in my opinion that’s the best kind of commute.
Of course it also matters how far you will be living from the train station in New Brunswick. If you have to walk fifteen minutes, that’s not a good deal in the summer or winter. I have no idea what the parking situation is at the New Brunswick train station.
In my experiece, New Jersey Transit is pretty darn reliable… New Brunswick is a major station on the NE Corridor line. That sometimes leads to problems if there is a delay on Amtrak that affects NJ Transit. But there is lots of service on that line. Plus, they have the cool bi-level train cars.
Westchester Avenue is a LONG road. There are parts of it that are easily accessible by subway, but that could add half an hour or more each way to the commute. Don’t drive it if you can avoid it. as HSHP said, that would mean the hell that is the George Washington Bridge and the Cross Bronx Expressway.
As commuter rail goes, NJ Transit is a little wonky. But literally millions of people rely on it and for the most part it’s fine. NYC employers are generally fairly understanding about the vagaries of public transit – any day there is a train problem, you would not be the only person in the office who was late that day! Bitching about your commute is a venerable NYC pastime!
If the Manhattan office is near Penn Station, then that is a very doable commute.
It looks like the 6 runs along Westchester Ave for a portion. You’d need to know the exact address to see if your office was in a good spot for commuting. The site below overlays the subway map onto a street map (the basic subway map is not to scale. At all.) http://www.onnyturf.com/subway/
To get to the 6 from Penn you would either walk 4 or 5 long blocks east to get to that line; or you could get the 2/3 at Penn Station, take it one stop to 42nd, get the “S” shuttle to Grand Central, where it connects with the 6. (walking is probably faster).
All in all, its probably a good hour and 15 minutes (including the 10 minute walk) on a good day. That adds up to a lot of hours pretty fast – you might be able to put up it for a year… maybe. That uptown commute would almost be a counter-commute - most everyone will be going the other way.
The great thing about the train (commuter rail and the Subway) is that you can read/listen to music/space out, and the people watching is kind of interesting (note staring = big NYC no-no).
I won’t be a whole lot of help. Just a little bit. I am pretty familiar with the train ride from New Brunswick to Penn Station. Never commuted to work on it, but took it into the city at least once a week or so.
It is about a 40 minute ride, but I’d schedule an hour anyway. The trains are usually on time, although there are delays during winter.
The NE Corridor is a very popular line, and it will be crowded. The first time my husband came out to visit me we spent the day in the city and happened to be heading back to New Brunswick right around rush hour. I told him to keep his eye on the board at Penn Station and when he saw what track it was (usually 3,4,5, or 6) to make a mad dash for the stairs leading to said track. He didn’t quite understand why, until the track popped up on the board and just about every person standing around the station took off running. It’s quite a dash.
There are a couple of open lots next to and near the train station and a parking garage directly across the street. There is another stop in NB on the line (Jersey Ave.) but it only runs during the morning and evening commute hours, so I’ve never really gotten on or off there, but it might be an option for you. I don’t know what the parking is like at that stop.
Once in the city you can take the subway to the Bronx, I’ve done it a few times and lived. It’s not so bad.
I used to commute western Queens -> Morristown, by both train and car. So not really your route but same river, same train station.
Yes, for a site at Penn Station you’d probably be happier than if you had to drive an hour in NJ. If it’s a site in Bronx: Fine IF there is a subway out of Penn Station that takes you there directly. Not ideal but worth it if you want the job.
If you would have to drive to the Bronx? Honestly I wouldn’t, it’s a big city, there are other jobs. Traffic in/out of the vortex that is Manhattan is like the weather, a 1.5 hour drive can become three hours if you time the accident just right. Or sometimes there’s no accident, that’s just traffic!
Thank you very much. I will be living a 10 minute walk from the New Brunswick train station. I really don’t mind walking 10 minutes in the winter, no big deal at all, and NJ winters are milder than I’m accustomed to anyways.
Based on this advice I will really push for a position in Manhattan at One Penn Plaza. That sounds like the easiest thing to do. My boss told me that they are constantly looking for help out there because it’s hard for east-coasters to adjust to the environment of a Midwest-based company. Fortunately I’m already a part of the company.
Just out of curiosity, the other Manhattan office is 120 Broadway. Is that much further?
FTR, I will NOT be driving to the Bronx. I am tired of driving.
120 Broadway is downtown in the Financial District. From Penn, you’d probably want to take the #2 or #3 subway down to Wall Street, or the #1 to Rector Street. That’s another 15 minutes or so plus a couple of blocks walk from the subway station up to 120 Broadway.
Everybody knows the shuttle is CRAP compared to the mighty 7 train.
Somebody explain to me how the Grand Central/Times Square “shuttle” is further from BOTH Grand Central AND the Port Authority and is also slower despite having no stops.
Actually, I am. But the mysteries of the 7 elude me. It is actually the one train I have never ridden, not even once. The 1/2/3-crosstown-4/5/6 connection is absurd in any event. You really would be better off walking.
Out of curiosity, do you have any more information on that? I’m terribly interested in cultural differences like this, and if you could elaborate, that would rock.
I commute from Hoboken to Queens every day. It’s not terrible as I take a bus to the Port Authority and then either the 7, N, R, W, or E to Long Island City. The whole trip takes 45-60 min door to door.
I mean LIC sucks moose balls, but whatever.
Brooklyn though is another story. It seems like it could take you 45 min to an hour to get from Penn to wherever in Brooklyn you are going. And that’s on top of your shitty ass train ride from New Brunswick.
<As someone else who lives in New Brunswick, NJ, and doesn’t have a car…>
Go Rutgers. Well.
If you want to walk 10 minutes in the winter… it’s not so bad, just keep in mind New Brunswick’s drainage system sucks. When the snow melts or there’s freezing rain, it’s ice cold puddles every corner (ow). Boots will help.
I have taken New Brunswick -> Penn Station a handful of times. It is closer to 60 minutes, not 40. And that’s if the train is not late… though generally the only trains I have seen be late are going south (I get off at Hamilton sometimes), usually between 10-15 minutes the last two trips.
I wish I could, but her comment made me sort of scratch my head and she didn’t elaborate. I take calls from clients on the East Coast all the time, so obviously the pace of life and the way they go about doing things is very different, but how that would relate to working for our company I don’t know. I love the people where I work, I believe in the mission of the place and the sense of community is fantastic.
And yes the idea of working in Manhattan, and speaking Spanish face-to-face with clients is absolutely terrifying, but you know, I’m saving the real anxiety for once I actually land the job.
How is that about cultural problems of an East Coast lawyer? I understand they didn’t like her high-handed office-decorating style, and there were allegations of misconduct, but it doesn’t say anything about midwestern culture clash, and Roehmer’s previous employer was Daimler-Chrysler, headquartered in the teeming East Coast metropolis of Auburn Hills, Michigan.
BTW, Olives I lived in Ann Arbor for many years, if you end up in NYC drop me a PM we can have a drink or dinner in the big bad city. I know a great cheap Dominican joint on 26th where you can get an awesome Cuban sandwich for $5 and practice all the Spanish you like.
This may seem like nitpicking, but I think it’s a little less – maybe about 1/3 of a mile – and definitely walkable in fewer than 10 minutes. I used to do a similar commute from NJ to One Chase Manhattan Plaza, which is just east of 120 Broadway (and therefore farther from the PATH station), and the walk from the PATH to work never bothered me at all.
It’s quite a dash.
I know a great cheap Dominican joint on 26th where you can get an awesome Cuban sandwich for $5 and practice all the Spanish you like.