My husband and I will be in NYC for 2 nights Dec 29th to the 31st, staying at the Marriott Marquis. Normally the day we leave we would check out, leave our bags at the hotel, and spend most of the day in the city before driving home. We have not stayed at the Marquis before so I'm not sure where the parking garage exits are.

So ... given the gathering crowds in times square for new year's eve ... will be able to get to the hotel late afternoon (maybe a back or side entrance) and will be able to get our car out? Should we leave earlier, would 1 or 2 in the afternoon be safe?

Thanks for any advice!

You really will need to ask the hotel what provisions they have made for guests because, as others will tell you, the whole area will be closed to traffic starting at about 1:00-3:00pm.

Hoo boy. I would STRONGLY advise you to check with your hotel concierge or desk staff before your arrival in order to determine a game plan.

In recent years, Times Square has been in all-day security lockdown for New Year's, which includes metal detectors, etc. The crowds are tremendous and start filling in very early in the day.

A car? Very, very unlikely. Most streets feeding into the are will be closed or be seriously traffic restricted.

The good news is that the hotel has been through this before and will probably have good answers as to how you are going to pull this off.

Agree with QC and the above, call the hotel.

In case you don't get satisfactory answers from the hotel (new employees,etc) you could always move your car to a garage or lot on the 30th of December that is away from the Times Square melee.

As I recall, the garage entrance/exit is on the side streets. I guess normally the valet would drive the car around the block if necessary and bring it to you at the front entrance. In this case, I'm not sure I'd bother to use the hotel lot. I'd park closer to where you're exiting the city. If you're exiting on the west side, there are much cheaper places on 10th ave. If you go to iconparking.com you'll find it's also a lot cheaper to do that. Don't know what to tell you about the luggage though. Not where I would have chosen to stay for a NYE departure.

A couple of years ago we stayed at the Marriott Marquis during that week and also left on December 31. We didn't have a car, but took a taxi to the airport, leaving the hotel about 1 PM. All I can say is, that although the hotel was surrounded with chaos, and they were even boarding up the glass storefronts on the ground floor with plywood, there was no issue with the taxi picking us up in the motor lobby (where they bring your own cars up from the garage below) and there was surprisingly little vehicle traffic in the neighborhood, so long as you headed west to 8th, which was surprisingly quiet. I suspect that most reasonable people avoid driving that entire area on that day, so perhaps that's why the traffic was actually lighter than usual.

OK - I called the hotel and was transferred to a "front desk manager" who told me as long as we leave by 3 we will be fine ... it may take a little longer and we will be limited in the direction we can take when leaving but that we can definitely get out. He said traffic is not allowed to enter but can exit at least until sunset or so.

Now - Do I believe him? He said yes it is crazy here that day but you WILL be able to exit with minimal problems between 1-3 (the time I told him we would like to leave). He sounded like he knew what he was talking about but I also trust the opinions I'm hearing from the regular NYC posters here.

FYI - Our original reservation had us staying for New Year's Eve as well but we had to cancel that night and leave early due to DH work issues.

Thanks Patrick - we were posting at the same time ... you experience gives me more confidence in the manager's advice.

Keep in mind that assuming you can get your car out of the hotel garage, you probably will only be able to go west on 45th Street, i.e., away from Times Square. Where are you driving to?

You're welcome. Actually the reason we left was because we snagged a nightly rate of something like $159 for that week, but for the 31st it was jumping to something like $599 (not including taxes). We decided we'd rather spend New Year's Eve back home with friends in Florida than crammed into Times Square -- especially at those rates!

Howard - We live in CT ... we are pretty comfortable driving in NYC, I will need to check a map but I assume we can head out of the immediate area and then work our way around to where we need to be. Suggested direction of course welcome!

Patrick - I'm with you on the price for New Year's Eve, I was actually very happy to be forced to drop that night!

Mcqueeney, you'll have no problem getting out. Just drive on 45th until you get to the West Side Drive and got north.