Garfield NJ - staying in Manhattan?
 

Greetings,

Everyone has always been so amazing about my trips to NYC I thought I would throw this out there...

Dh and I are considering going to a family wedding in October. The wedding is on a Friday night in Garfield NJ - the ceremony is in Staten Island in the middle of the day and the reception in good NY Italian style is at 7:30 that evening - it is in a venue in Garfield. Dh and I would prefer to stay in NYC - arriving on a Thursday evening and departing on Sunday.

It shows at 30 minutes away from NYC on Mapquest. We would not rent a car - but maybe use a car service to get us to the reception and back later that night.

My question is does that seem reasonable? Am I missing the traffic aspect?

Thanks in advance,

No traffic to worry about on Saturday. Car service will cost you about $100 each way, maybe a litte less.

Here's what you could do.
- Stay in Manhattan
- Sat am - ferry to Staten Island, cab to wedding
- ride with family or friends from wedding to reception. I wouldn't go back to Manhattan before reception unless you have a lot of time to kill.
- car service from reception back to Manhattan.

j62 - that is a good plan - one of the issues is that the way the wedding and receptions are set up (it is a little different then we do things on the west coast) the wedding itself will be in the early afternoon - and only for an hour or so - and then there will be a good 5 or 6 hours between the wedding and the reception.
I should have said - the wedding is on a FRIDAY. :(

I can't help you at all here but I am confused by what you wrote - What time of day and day is the wedding and where is it. What time and day is the reception and where is it. Hopefully someone else can help you.

sorry.

Wedding ceremony - Friday early afternoon - Staten Island

Wedding Reception - Friday 7:30 pm - Garfield NJ

You wrote Friday and I read Saturday. Mea culpa.

Since there is a lot of time between the wedding & reception your plan to stay in Manhattan makes some sense to me, but it does have its downsides. You could return to Manhattan after the wedding. By the time you get back to your hotel you won't have much time to get out and about. You'd have to leave to NJ by 6ish.

You will be in rush hour traffic so you should plan to double the travel time by car service to Garfield. Getting out of Manhattan either by the Lincoln Tunnel or GWB will be the time sink.

The downside of staying in Manhattan is that you'll spend about 4hrs total travel time on Friday. 1hr each to/from the wedding, and 1hr to/from the reception - less headed back to NYC late Fri. If you stayed in NJ Thu/Fri nights (plenty of hotels in the Saddle Brook area) & rented a car you'd spend a lot less time in transit, but you'd be close to the reception venue late Friday night.

Personally I'd probably just stay in NJ Thu/Fri nights. Save the hotel $$$, save the car service $.

Okay..that is not a bad idea (staying in NJ on Thursday and Friday) We are flying from the west coast so will get in late on Thursday anyway... and head over to the city perhaps on Sat am? I just hate to be so close and stay in Garfield ;-) I have my heart set on going to the Tenement museum the next time we get to the city...

This is the opposite of I what I would usually recommend. It is because the wedding is on SI and the reception in NJ.

Stay at a motel near the recption and rent a car. Take into Manhattan when you want and will be happy to have transportation on that Friday.

buon fortuna

You all never fail me.

As has been suggested, you could take the Staten Island Ferry from lower Manhattan to the ceremony on Staten Island, then return to Manhattan the same way.

Later in the day, you can avoid rush hour traffic delays by taking NJTransit from Penn Station to Garfield, a 35-or-so minute ride including an easy change of trains at Secaucus Junction. Return trains run via Secaucus Junction from nearby Rutherford (inbound Garfield to NYP service ends mid-afternoon), one station stop closer and a quick cab ride from Garfield.

Check train schedules here: http://tinyurl.com/ytmohy

Reminder (here I go again -- last time it was about Alcatraz) -- make an advance reservation online for the Tenement Museum, it does sell out, particularly on weekends. Also, Katz' Deli is around the corner, so plan to have lunch there after your tour.

We took the tour called "Piecing it Together" and thought it was outstanding (we chose that one because one of my grandfathers, and my step-grandfather, were tailors) -- I'm sure in part because our tour guide was terrific (a grad student from New Zealand).

You can also take the opportunity to walk around the Lower East Side, although it "ain't what it used to be" (when both my father and FIL were born there in the early part of the 20th century).

Are you suggesting that some one dressed for a wedding take a cab or the subway to the SI Ferry and then either find a cab or take the SI train to the wedding?

What is this a remake of Working Girl?

The SI Ferry is nice for a little ride but awful for anything else. It's slow and the car service drivers waiting at the other side are horrifying.

I agree with Aduchamp - this time it would be easier to stay outside of the city. If you don't feel like driving in on Sat you can take a train or ferry. I would not try to drive to either place from Manhattan because you will NOT be happy with the traffic on a Friday.

Aduchamp.... LOL - I have take the subway from Manhattan to the S.I. Ferry and gone across to see family (last Oct) and it is not something I would be comfortable doing all dressed up :)

SF - thank you! I did get my tickets for the Alcatraz :) I will know at the end of July if we are going to make the trip for the wedding. Have to wait on my school schedule for that term.

Newark airport would definitely be your best option if staying in NJ.

J62 - thank you for that - I think we will try to fly in and out of Newark but it does depend on the FF miles.

If, as you said in your original post, you "would not rent a car" and do not wish to use public transportation, exactly what are you asking?

bs - I am so sorry :) - What I meant is that if we stay in the city I would avoid renting a car if *possible. I would most likely use a car service - as I would not be comfortable dressed up and taking the subway and the Staten Island Ferry. I apologize if my comment back to Aud was viewed as not appreciating your advice. Not the case at all. If renting a car is the best option we of course would do that. Dh was raised in Brooklyn and while avoids driving in the city like most - will if need be. We rented a car when we went in last August - we had it for a few nights in the city (parked) and then drove it to Lake George.

No problem. But just what is it that would make you "uncomfortable"? People headed for business, appropriately clothed, use public transport all the time.

I'm just wondering what all thisfuss is about - getting dressed up and therefore not wanting to ride the subway. I've headed for affairs a gazillion times - dressed for the occasion. Who could care? I've even seen many wearing formal on the subway - so what?

Taking a simple subway ride to a wedding is one thing. Getting from Manhattan hotel to SI wedding, then back to Manhattan, then later on to suburban NJ at Fri rush hour, then back to Manhattan at midnight is another. MomDDTravel doesn't want to spend 4hrs on public transportation on a Friday - I think she'd rather enjoy the wedding & reception relaxed & fresh. Seems like a very reasonable inquiry to me.

I took the subway to high school, college, and work daily for 45 years. When I worked I would wear jeans and a T-shiort and change at the office, since we were one of the last comapnies that required suits. Grand Central could get to 125 degress during the summer. The AC did not always work in all the cars. You could be jammed in together at rush hour. You could wait for a long time on a hot platform. People brough their bikes and food on the train. The trains may be swept but they are rarely cleaned.

Those are some of the so whats.

I'm still sitting in amazement at the idea of a ceremony on Staten Island followed by a reception in New Jersey.

Anyway, you might want to consider staying in Jersey City (Hyatt Regency is nice) or the new W Hoboken.

I'm guessing the bride/groom did the best they could. Even for those who live locally, all that time between the ceremony and the reception is inconvenient.

I, too, think your best bet is to rent a car and stay in New Jersey. We love the Hyatt Regency and will be staying at the brand new Westin (Priceline) next month. We'll be driving, but probably use public transit to go to/from Manhattan.

Adu - the problem is not how you are dressed while on public transportation - the problem here is the logistics involved regardless of how you are dressed. Subways are air conditioned - and a short subway ride is no problem no matter what. But there are specific logistical problems making public transportation sort of an impossibility. Thus - best solution is staying on S.I. rent a car and - go.

Joe-

Trust me Joe, there were many days one shirt was not enough.

Mclaurie - I find it is a puzzle as well... last year we had a ceremony on SI followed by a reception much later on Long Island... sigh. These Italian weddings ;-)

I've been to lots of weddings, but I have never been to one where the ceremony and reception sites are over 20+ miles apart.

And for those few weddings I went to that had huge time gap between ceremony and reception; I'd say 4 out of 5 times the OOT guests were invited over to the bride's parents' house for refreshments and a place to rest.

YK - I have to be honest...it baffles me. The wedding was in the late am - maybe 12 noon? The reception was at Crest Hallows or something like that in Long Island. It took a LONG time to get there with traffic..

All his family weddings were always at Russos by the bay (something close) - this is a "new" thing... :-?

So we have 5-6 hours between the ceremony and the reception. MANY people do not even come to the ceremony - the wedding reception will have upwards of over 300 people in attendance - maybe 50 will show for the ceremony. I confess... it is mind boggling to me.

Back to the issue at hand. I have no problem with public transportation in NYC (thanks be to this forum for that!) I took the subway, bus, train, cab and private car last time I was in NYC in October. (yes, all of the above!) I just would feel dirty and messy from the amount of time walking, going on the subway, then the ferry, then a cab?

I've had a discussion about wedding schedules with my local parish priest recently. Our church has on average 3 weddings per weekend for April through October, so on some weekends there are 4 weddings scheduled. Two on Friday and 2 on Saturday. Friday weddings have apparently become much more popular lately due to the cost/availability of reception venues - traditional Saturdays are apparently outrageous.

The number of priests is also declining everywhere and they have lots of other duties - they can't simply be on standby all day Friday & Saturday for weddings. It could very well be that the SI church had no other slot available for a wedding. I know, hard to imagine for October but it may be the case.

On a recent Saturday we had 3 major events back to back to back. First Communion, a funeral, and a wedding. The first and the last were pre-scheduled. The 2nd you can't predict but need to be able to plan for.

The number of priests is also declining everywhere and they have lots of other duties - they can't simply be on standby all day Friday & Saturday for weddings. It could very well be that the SI church had no other slot available for a wedding. I know, hard to imagine for October but it may be the case.>>

I am sure that they do the best they can do. $$$ is always an object - the family has large weddings and truly goes all out. I have honestly never seen weddings like this in my life... they have a Venitian <sp> hour at midnight...the cocktail hour is generally more then a reception has on the west coast... :) So they do try for the Friday night to help with costs...

I'm sensing an opportunity for a Fodors GTG MomDDtravel! What's a few more guests at a wedding anyway!

J62 - Do you look Italian? John Gotti Jr. was at one of the weddings at Russo ;-)

Well as it turns out - dh and younger dd are going to go to the event. I have class on friday's next term so cannot make it.

I ended up flying them into Newark and out of JFK - they will stay two nights in NJ (Thursday and friday) and head into the city on Sat am for a Dad/Daughter day/night - flying back to the west coast on Sunday.

Dh wants to rent a car in Newark upon arrival and drop it in Manhattan - I have to check the drop fees - he does not seem to believe me that they can be very high.

They will go to the wedding ceremony on Friday and then he is going to a family member's house on the Island to change for the reception later.

I will post back when I find out the hotel options in that area of NJ.

Thanks again!

The Marriott in Saddlebrook is a recommended hotel from the venue where the wedding is -

I can get one night free and the other for 100.00 a night - will map it out from Newark. They are getting in around midnight into Newark.

The car drop has no fee associated so dh was right - he can drop it less then a mile away from the Sheraton Time Square (spg reward for free) so I will go with that as well.

Now onto finding them a show to see!