I know everybody loves to talk about their own city, so her’s your chance, New Yorkers. I’m looking at spending the evening of the 30th in NYC with my girlfriend, to see Rent. I could drive down to the city, see the show, and drive back to Boston right afterwards, but I’d rather not if I don’t have to. The train (Amtrak) looks a bit expensive, even with the AAA discount.
Most hotels seem quite expensive, but I found one on West 79th St.* for only $65 for the two of us for the night. This seems reasonable to me … but do I need to be worried about the neighborhood? Should I plan on driving from the hotel to the theatre (the Nederlander, on West 31st St.), or cabbing, or just walking?
Are there any cheaper places to stay outside the city, maybe an hour’s drive back up 95 or so?
Any thoughts or advice you can offer would be great. Thanks!
*The hotel is Hayden Hall, as seen at www.haydenhall.com. Looks good to me, but I’m not the most discerning person.
Amtrak also runs ‘standard’ service from/to boston not just accela 0 which would be cheaper. Also you could transfer to metro north when you get close enough - they share the same stations. This would double your travel time though.
You might find the bus is cheaper but not exactly how you want to bring a date.
If you drive you will have to pay (very dearly) for parking. If you can I suggest not driving in to the city.
Hotels up in westchester are pricey but also very nice. You can take metro north to grand central then a shuttle ride to b-way. If you were going to use your car I would think this is a pretty good way to go.
Alternativly you could take the ferry to LI and stay at a hotel there and take the LIRR in but it being summer and all rates are probabally up.
NJ is just too far out of your way to be of much use to you but I would think you would get the cheapest hotel rates there.
If it were me, I’d try to get away from driving, I don’t want the agravation of driving in manhattan. I guess I’m funny that way, I know lots of people who would only think of driving into manhattan but plan their ski vacation around the area with shuttle busses.
There are a lot of “red-roof-inn” type hotels in Secaucus, New Jersey, which is a short drive from Midtown-Manhattan. (You take the Lincoln tunnel.) Also, there are a lot of hotels on Route 4, in Fort Lee, New Jersey, which is just over the George Washington Bridge. Keep in mind that there is usually a lot of tunnel traffic on weekdays between 4:00 and 7:00 pm going into the City. The GWB is usually better since the lanes don’t get reversed.
To save money on parking, there are plenty of zones in Midtown Manhattan where parking is prohibited from 8:00 to 6:00; 8:00 to 7:00 or whatever. So just get there 20 minutes early and wait. There are also plenty of parking lots in that area. If you don’t mind walking a few blocks, you shouldn’t have to pay more than $10 or $15 to park.
A couple of years ago I spent a lot of time in NY and really enjoyed myself. Just lately I’ve been feeling some withdrawal symptoms and I’d like to do some revisiting. Are trains (Path?) available from any of those places you mention?
Gah. Don’t you know it’s illegal to stay in New Jersey without a car? (There’s an exception for Hoboken.)
But I think that the answer is no. I believe that there is bus service from Secaucus that takes you to the Port Authority bus terminal on 42nd street. Train service has changed a lot in the last couple years, so I don’t know for sure.
If you’ll be “car free,” you’re probably better off staying in Manhattan, or perhaps one of the Outer Boros.
k2dave, I agree with everything you say. The price of Amtrak wasn’t for the Acela, I don’t think – it was the link I got from every page for fare finding. $230 for 2 adults, round trip seemed about right to me. I would like to avoid driving if I could, and was thinking about parking outside the city and using public transit the rest of the way … that’s perfect.
luc-warm, excellent advice on the parking-- I like it. I wasn’t thinking of NJ for the night, though, simply because it’s the wrong direction. I meant up 95 northwards, back towards Boston…
Because my girlfriend likes Rent, and the name of the game is making her happy. This will be a birthday present… (I like Rent too, but that’s jut a side benefit.)
In recent news, my parents believe it’s gasp just too dangerous to drive into NYC. I tried to ignore them – er, listened to them respectfully and politely expressed my disagreement – but unsuccessfully. I let them con me into taking the train and staying at a different hotel, after they agreed to pay half the train fare (what I’d save by driving) and for the other hotel. I’m greatful, but unsure why they insist on believing I can’t take care of myself at the age of 20. (Especially after spending three years at school in a different country, not to mention other international journeys by myself.) My girlfriend will never let me live this down…
Anyway, thank you all, very much for the help. It means a lot to me, and I’ll remember it for my next trip…
Drive down I95 and get off in Stamford, CT. Take the Metro North rail to Grand Central Station (42nd Street). The train is about 45min express and only costs about $16 round trip. I thinks its about 10 bucks a day to park.
Personally, I don’t mind driving in NYC. Its a little tough to get across town, but for the most part, the geometric grid like patterns make it a hell of a lot easier than driving around Boston. Parking is a little expensive though.
This New Jersey talk is nonsense. Unless you plan to drive 2 hours out of your way, pay tolls for the GW. Find parking in Hoboken (good luck sucka) and then take the Ferry or Path over to Manhattan, stick with my plan.
Fort Lee, New Jersey is a quicker trip from Boston (by car) than the Upper West Side.
For example, if you take I-95 into Manhattan, you’re only a few hundred feet from the Bridge, and only a mile or two from Fort Lee. You’re still 4 miles from the Upper West Side. It’s different if you take the Triboro bridge, but the fastest way to get to the Upper West Side from Boston is to take the Cross-County Parkway, make your way to the Henry Hudson parkway, and go south into Manhattan. If you’re doing that, it’s faster to get of the Henry Hudson at 181st street and go to New Jersey.
I agree that if you’ll be taking public transportation into Manhattan, 'Jersey wouldn’t make much sense. But if I were coming into New York to see Rent, I would definitely drive. It’s just a lot more convenient than public transit if you don’t have to come in during rush hour.
Note that with metro-north, you’ll have to buy two tickets. $32 is a lot more than any tolls you’ll pay, no matter where you stay. Also note that it will take you another 10-20 minutes to get from Grand Central Station to Times Square and you’ll have to carry around whatever you’re bringing into the city.
By the way, it is still possible to park in NYC, even in midtown during the week, for $10 a day. For example, the Sovereign parking garage, at 58th Street between 1st Avenue and Sutton Place charges $10 (including tax) for up to 12 hours. After 7:00 pm, there is plenty of parking on the street in that area.
I’m sure there are similar places on the West Side.
After some thought if the train tickets are 1/2 price I would go with your plan to take amtrak in to penn and stay at the hotel you mentioned. When you are in manhattan you will set up very nicely with 2 major subway lines ( = frequest service) that should take you where you need to go w/o changing. Also you don’t have to worry about catching trains if you stay out too late (you could even walk back).
If you drive I still like the idea of staying in CT, metronorthing into the city.
Both of these options should satify even the most worried mom’s
Going to NJ is an option but IMHO not a great one for you and your location. You will most likely end up driving into manhattan which is what you are considering avoiding and you may as well stay in manhattan then. I don’t know too much about PATH trains during off hours but the station is no where an nice as penn or grand central (kind of has that scarry feeling to me). You could take NJ Transit to Penn but check their sceadule before you book anything over there.
There’s a subway shuttle (S) that takes you right from GCS to Times Square.
Driving in, you could also take the Saw Mill Pkway to the West Side. Its a fairly sceneic drive and there usually isn’t as much traffic as the Bruckner.
Check out this page for all things related to public transportation in and around NYC: http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/
As I understood things, the OP was going in with his girlfriend.
2 tickets, at 16 dollars each, is $32.
Of course, carrying an extra passenger in a car won’t increase the tolls he pays.
**
Sure, and based on my experience if you add up the time it takes to get to the subway station, the time to buy tokens and get to the platform, the time to wait for the train, and the time to actually travel, it will take 10-20 minutes, depending on the time of day.
But seriously it really depends on where you are comming from. NJ would take the Holland tunnel, Brooklyn and those comming from the belt would take the battery tunnel (I think you have to head north on the FDR drive now though) or the brooklyn bridge.
From the north it might be best taking the west side hwy/drive.
Traffic is your biggest factor
From RI, I would consider the northern approach I mentioned or triboro to FDR drive.
Also you could park at statan island and take the ferry across.
