sharona

I'm taking Amtrak to NYC out of Providence for the first time next week mid-week and as I am not familiar with the parking situation there I'm wondering if there is plenty of availability for overnight parking. The Amtrak web site shows 350 spots available for overnight parking. Is there usually availability or are those spots mostly taken? Is there a close by alternative for overnight parking if the station lot is full?

Thanks for any help.

Lookin_Glass

You could park at the Providence Place Mall if needed.

sharona

Thanks Lookin_Glass. Is overnight parking allowed there? I'll need parking for 2 nights. Is Providence Place Mall close to the train station? I'm not familiar with Providence at all.

Lookin_Glass

It's just a very short stroll away. There is no overnight street parking in Providence without the proper permits for the proper areas. I think the mall is about $25 for a 24 hour period. Their garage is used for nearby hotels for valet.

sharona

Thanks again. Since there now might be 3 of us I'm thinking we'll just drive. If we go with the train I'll keep the mall parking in mind if the train station lot is full.

tomfuller

Why not take the train in from a station in CT to avoid possible parking fees in NYC?

Lookin_Glass

depending where you are staying in NYC, although I haven't been in the neighborhood lately, the outer edges of Hell's Kitchen had some good rates for storing your car

sharona

<Why not take the train in from a station in CT to avoid possible parking fees in NYC?>

Taking the train from a CT station is a possibility. New Haven has overnight parking at its station.

emalloy

If you do decide on New Haven, or another station west of there in CT, take Metro North instead of Amtrack to save $$.

DonTopaz

sharona,

I know that Bridgeport, for certain, has plenty of parking garages adjacent to the train station. New Haven, I'm not sure whether or not non-commuter parking is generally available. Stamford also has a parking garage, but you can easily run into lots of traffic issues if you go all the way to Stamford.

The Rt 128 station is always a good choice, depending on where you are starting from. It has a separate garage for commuters and for Amtrak riders, so the Amtrak lot has always had spaces in my experience.

Lookin_Glass

Unless there is a good reason not to drive right into the city, buying 3 roundtrip train tickets and parking at the metro north station in New Haven will likely cost more then parking in the city.

http://nyc.bestparking.com/#1

ggreen

FWIW/for next time, there is underground parking that's part of the Providence train station, however it's not always available for use (renovation/repair issues). There are a number of parking garages in the immediate vicinity, without having to go over to PP (who's parking garage IMO is one of the most poorly laid-out structures I've ever been in!).

For some reason, the parking areas closest to the train station don't come up on a google maps search; here's the link to the operator:
http://www.metroparkltd.com/index%28map%29.htm
(P3 and P4 are really close to the station. I can't tell if P2 is the underground train station one or something else, though I believe it's the former.)

// I'd park in New Haven over Bridgeport, for the frequency of MetroNorth trains. In NH, the parking structure is on the block adjacent to Union Station and is quite large. If you want cheaper rates, there are other garages in the vicinity. However, I agree with Lookin_Glass that you might just be better off driving all the way into the city!

sharona

Excellent information. Thanks everyone! I couldn't find the info you referenced, ggreen, so thank you very much for that. I'm a bit familiar with the New Haven station as we lived in the area for a couple of years. I realize it will be MUCH cheaper to take Metro North if we go to New Haven, especially since we've missed the opportunity for the less expensive Amtrak tickets.

With 3 people we might just drive. With 2 I'd probably still take the train. My friend from L.A. is coming to spend a week with me and we usually just sit on the beach at our summer home and do day trips. Since she hasn't been to New York since she came to visit me when we lived around New Haven many years ago I figured she might enjoy a NYC visit since we've done most of the sights around Boston.

Now I have to figure out the best route into New York (probably Chelsea area) from the south coast of MA.

ggreen

sharona, you're welcome - if I hadn't known it existed, I wouldn't have been able to find it either! I live in NYC and my family is on the southcoast, so I've done the trip in many variations many, many times...

For southcoast to I-95, I always take I-195 to I-95 in Providence - greatly improved since they put in the new bridge there. (When my sister lived in Portsmouth, RI, she always took the Jamestown Bridge to Route 4.)

Then it's I-95 all the way through CT. For a food break, we stop at Seaview clam shack in Mystic, Modern in New Haven, or the Frank Pepe's just off the highway in Fairfield (exit 24). Gas at Pilot and also Dunkin Donuts at exit 40... And the fairly new REI at exit 14 is dangerously large, well-stocked and uncrowded!

When you get close to the city (over the NY state border), there are a number of roadway options. You can always listen to AM880 "on the eights" and AM1010 "on the ones" for traffic reports every ten minutes, which might help you decide your route. The most straightforward is to stay on I-95 until just before the GW Bridge, then head south on the West Side Highway (Route 9A). However, the Cross Bronx Expressway part of I-95 can often be a parking lot! I don't need to drive over to the west side when coming in from CT or MA - hopefully others have better tips there.

sharona

More great info. Thanks again ggreen! I didn't know there was a Frank Pepe's in Fairfield. I still miss New Haven pizza even after all these years.

Lookin_Glass

We usually take 95 to Merrit pkwy to cross county to henry hudson. I like the scenery and especially enjoy entering the city on the hudson.

sharona

I wanted to come back and thank everyone for your suggestions and give an update on what we did.

Since we were still on the fence about the trip into NYC and didn't book ahead of time, by the time I checked Amtrak tickets from Providence the price for 3 round trip tickets was $750. Yikes! And I was pretty sure on the return trip we would be leaving NYC around rush hour and after a long day of sight seeing in the heat I knew I wouldn't look forward to the 4+ hour drive. So we drove to New Haven and took Metro North. It was $105 for 3 round trip tickets with the return in peak time. We parked about 2 blocks from the train station in one of the surface train parking lots. There were plenty of spaces and 3 days of parking was $45. It all worked out well.