Wow, the reviews on that Riverside Towers are really good if you don’t mind dorm sized accommodations.
I have the same thing. I did start freaking a bit, but I just went to my ‘no one else is here but me lalalalala’ place on the subways. I almost did faint on a bus at one point, but that was my health more than the closeness. Google the museum of sex . I found a good links but it’s not safe for work in any way shape or form.
If you have social anxiety and generalized anxiety, is a trip to NYC the best idea? Also riding public transit can be very claustrophobic and anxiety inducing for some people. Sure you want to deal with getting in and out of the city every day on mass transit to stay someplace cheaper? Doesn’t sound like much of a vacation to me, just IMHO. If you do really want to visit here and can possibly swing it it, I’d try stay someplace in Manahattan, walk or take cabs everywhere, and just enjoy being in the heart of the city for a few days without having to schlep in & out out each day.
Not by much. Newark Airport to Penn Station is $12.50 on NJ Transit and it’s a simple 30 minute straight train ride. JFK to Penn Station is $7.75 for the AirTrain to Jamaica Station where you then have to transfer to the E subway, which is another $2.75, and it’ll take closer to an hour. So you’d be saving just $2, but it’s a much bigger hassle. Doesn’t seem at all worth it to me, especially with luggage.
Oh! I live right near there! Can I suggest the Newton Hotelon 95th and Broadway? I don’t know when you are planning on traveling, but I checked their rates and prices are all under $200 per night, and range between $119-$189. They have pretty good reviews on Trip Advisor.
You’d be right across the street from the 96th St subway, where you can get the 1,2 or 3 lines. It’s a major stop and can get you to Penn Station in 10-15 minutes.
You’re probably overwhelmed with choice already, but–
You could drive to Newark and leave your car in long-term parking. Take the NJ Transit train into Manhattan/Penn Station, then the 2/3 to 96th street. From there you can walk to the Newton, as described by Eyebrows.
In addition to the benefits that Eyebrows mentions, you are near to Riverside Park for a stroll around if the crowds get too much.
One final thought on hotel prices–the rate quoted is not gonna include taxes, which in NYC are HEFTY.
But honestly, it is very difficult to do NYC for as little as you want to spend.
Gee, no recommendations for the Hotel Carter yet?
I always post that hotel because I have a relative who stays there at least once a year, every year.
It’s a great deal. Good location, clean and cheap.
Yeah but most of NJ isn’t convenient to Manhattan. The PATH is a short train without a lot of stops serving only a small portion of NJ. There are bus and train lines from the rest of of NJ but they only go into the Port Authority or Penn Station. Whereas if you stay in Brooklyn, Queens or the Bronx you can just hop on a train or express bus from nearly anywhere in Manhattan. Also the subways are 24/7 while many buses and trains do not run in the very early morning. My husband and I put up with NJ because we love the schools out here but it can be a pain when traveling into the city. When I want to leave for my house, the latest I can leave the PA is about 11 at night with no service at all on weekends unless I’m willing to take another line and walk a mile and a half home.
You can also drive there (form home to where you’re staying) and then take the subway once you’re in Manhattan.
No one is suggesting he stay in Trenton or Wildwood. As for the other boroughs, there are many places he could stay that would be worse commutes than from New Jersey, like Douglaston, Howard Beach, or anywhere served only by the G train.
@ Eyebrows of Doom - Killer name. Thanks for the Hotel Newton recommendation. It sounded great, until I started doing some digging on potential dates and it seems to be booked up on according to its site. On Tripadvisor it listed some availability at $275 nightly. I don’t know the deal, but either way it won’t work for us. It was a great suggestion though, and it would have been really close to my brother’s place.
As far as the anxiety goes, I will be okay once I adjust. I am able to go to football games with 50,000 plus people there. The first game is always tough for me, but it is okay after that. I’m sure that my first day in the area will be somewhat nerve wracking, but I’ll calm down. I’m not going to say that it will be easy, but there’s only one way to visit my brother in his home and that’s to go there. He’s been there for years and I’ve never been able to go, so I want to take a shot if the time comes. If I have my car and absolutely hate it, I can always drive the other direction or change my plans and go up to the Adirondacks or somewhere on the way home to Indiana. It’s certainly worth a shot. If I had a nickel for every time I was nervous about something and dreaded it and then enjoyed myself immensely after making myself do it, I’d be able to take this trip with no thoughts of financial constraints.
I think we’re settling on a full week trip, driving up and back. There will be enough firsts on this trip and enough things to cause anxiety, so we’ll skip the plane trying to figure out what we can bring and just get in our car and go. It is going to be costly, but we’re just going to bite the bullet and do this. We haven’t had a week off in many years, so it is probably long overdue. Gotta live a little, and we have the cash.
Maybe we can find a hotel that we can afford with parking, or maybe we park our car somewhere and find a better hotel for proximity or something that we take public transportation to from whatever parking area there is. The preference is one with parking included so that our car is right there, where we can find easy transportation to take us close to my family. Still looking for that right place, and probably raising our budget as reality hits.
Hey ladies and gents. First, thanks for all of the suggestions. I thought I’d come back and let you know how it went, for those that expressed an interest.
We decided to drive to NYC, which took roughly 13 hours each way, a couple hours extra each way due to road closures or wrecks. I-80 through Pennsylvania is a beautiful drive, albeit very long. I don’t think I’ve ever driven well over 300 miles on any one road before. The decision to drive was made on the cost savings over flying (saved $500 or so) and because we brought lots of things with us. Not just our normal packing for a five day trip, but I brought several 12 packs of Big Red for my brother because he loves it and can’t get it up there. I also brought a Derby Pie from Louisville because he likes that. We also had a large box full of gifts for my brother and his wife. So, having our van was nice.
My first introduction to NYC was coming through the toll booth at the GW Bridge and instantly getting into it with two people that decided I was in their way even though I was in my lane. There was no space in front of or behind me so two vans took aim at the side of my van. I let one in and the other apparently took me for a punk. We ended up jousting mirrors because he wouldn’t stop coming even though he was behind me. Mine was fine. His may have been broken. He rolled his windows down and shouted obscenities, so I let him have it back, and we moved on. Welcome to NYC! Driving is not for the weak. Rise up and get what you want, because nobody is going to give an inch. I adapted quickly, got over a few lanes so that I could exit where I needed to right across the bridge. I’ve never seen anything like it.
We managed to find a parking space 7 blocks away from their apartment. We did have to go out on Tuesday morning and sit with the car for an hour and a half for a street sweeper than never came, but it was better than getting a ticket. That was interesting. We double parked on the opposite side of the street with the other cars that had been parked there, only to watch other people swoop in and start taking the spots that we just vacated. It is truly a “screw everybody else and get yours” way of life. I ended up moving back to the other side early because I could tell that’s how it was going to go down and I didn’t want to be on the outs in that game of musical cars.
Other than driving in NYC, which I hated, the rest was awesome. I found out that I actually liked subways. The crowds of people didn’t really get to me anywhere despite my social anxiety. I adapted very quickly. I guess there’s a difference when you literally can’t get away from people. Where I live the expectation is to have personal space, so space invaders make me uncomfortable. In NYC, there is no expectation of it.
We stayed with my brother and his wife in their apartment. It was fun, and we saved on hotel expenses, which were cost prohibitive for us. Food was more expensive up there. We ate at Toast, Barn Joo, The Strand, got pizza somewhere, Halal Truck, Shake Shack, Tom’s Diner, the Smorgasbord, Acqua, and probably some other places that I’m leaving out. We went to a Mets baseball game, the Bronx Zoo, MOMA, Riverside Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Staten Island Ferry, the flower district, High Line Park, Wall Street, Madison Square Park, Union Square, Times Square at night (amazing!), Central Park’s North Woods, Grand Central Station, a private rooftop garden called the Lotus Garden, and did lots of walking around. We hit all five boroughs.
The trip was amazing. My wife and I loved NYC. Queens was probably one of our favorite areas because it felt a little more like home, as the buildings weren’t so tall. It felt more like a neighborhood that we’d see. The Bronx was so diverse where we went and we loved that. Manhattan was really nice and we liked the area that they lived in around Riverside Park as kind of a peaceful oasis away from the downtown craziness. I really loved Times Square at night, as the lights and energy were just so cool. We didn’t really spend much time in Staten Island, mostly just going back and forth on the Ferry. Our experience in Brooklyn was limited to the Brooklyn Bridge Park while we ate at the Smorgasbord, which is a really cool experience. We walked around a little bit and it was a very nice area.
We can’t wait to go back. Thanks to everyone for your suggestions, even if we didn’t take them. Just talking about it and getting input helped allay some anxiety. And next time we’ll have more time to save up and maybe put some more of these suggestions into action. We now understand the public transportation options better, the layout of the city and different areas, and have some frame of reference with which to put some of the suggestions into. Who knows, maybe next year we’ll get to go back. It really is life on another level, and we took so much away.
Thanks for the update! Glad you had a great time. (Queens represent!)