help getting into manhattan
 

I would like to drive a car into Mnhattan on a weekday (Midtown). I have a free place to park it. Then I will be staying at a midtown hotel and using public transit to tour for 3 days. I will be coming from the EWR area with little luggage. Does it make sense to drive in or should I not bother and take some form of public transit from EWR to midtown Manhattan. Looking for best Directions driving and directions using public transit. Staying at Marriot Eastside 48th and Lexington. Thank you for any helpful info.

Are you flying into Newark? Would you be paying for a rental car? If yes, driving yourself makes no sense just b/c you have a free parking place. Take public transportation. One easy option from Newark is the express bus to the Grand Central terminal stop which isn't far from the Marriott but means a walk of about 5 mins. The bus is $14/person. But if you're driving your own car from elsewhere and would need to pay to park it and then take public transportation into Manhattan, sure drive in but I'd wait until at least 9:30 or 10 am to do that. Take the Lincoln tunnel, follow signs to the east side and go across town on 48th st. Mapquest.com or maps.google.com will give you turn by turn directions.

Since you won't be using the car while you are in Manhattan, it just seems crazy to me to rent a car and drive into the city, even if you do have a free place to park. Why would you pay for the rental for 3 days when not using the car at all? If you have to rent one to drive somewhere else, then pick it up when you're done with Manhattan.

GIven where you're staying, the most convenient way to get into the city is to take the Olympic Trails bus to the Grand Central area and then either walk 7 blocks to your hotel or take a taxi.

It will be a little faster to come into the city on the Air Train (connecting with any NJ Transit train at the airport station. You come into Penn Station and then can take a cab to the hotel, or it's possible to do the subway. Again, this will save both time and money, but it's inconvenient because you have to make 2 connections.

OK. THE car is free and we will be using it drive outside of Manhattan days prior to going into the city. We are sleeping at EWR a night before our hotel reservation in Manhattan because we get a free marriot stay there. So then we thought why not drive the car to the closest Avis car rental to our hotel in Manhattan and return it there. This way we are only blocks from the hotel, we dont have to drag our luggage from ewr to Manhattan on public transit, we can drop off our luggage and start touring by foot/subway/bus etc. With that said-is it best to come into Manhattan throught the lincoln tunnel or Holland? Thanks for your help
*We are using a car service for getting back to EWR for our flight home.

Ditto, Don't drive into N.Y. Your staying right there a few blocks from the U.N. & as mentioned, from Penn you can take a subway, which is going to be much easier than trying to drive in and who knows what you'll encounter when you leave. Manhatten is a public transport friendly Island and now it's well guarded, safe, and oh so easy to get around by train or bus.(Or of course a cab).

If your insisting, then just ask any of the readily available airport workers outside of the terminal and once they direct you, the signs are easy to follow, whether your directed through the tunnel or some other way. Just watch the signs as you drive. Good Luck.

Generally you're better driving through the Lincoln Tunnel since it's less time in the city - but do check traffic radio to see if there are any issues in the tunnel. And don;t start into the city until at least 10 am if you want to avoid the worst of the traffic

The "traffic radio" stations on the AM frequency are:
- 1010 WINS, traffic on the "ones" (i.e., 9:01, 9:11, 9:21, etc.)
- CBS 880, traffic on the "eights"

But IMO, I'm with the people who suggest returning the car outside of Manhattan - especially if you have "little luggage", which will make public transit pretty easy to do.

At EWR, the AirTrain to NJ Transit is a frequent service that will bring you right into NYC Penn Station (not to be confused with Newark Penn Station in NJ). At NYC Penn, follow the signs for the A/C/E train located on the lower level. Take the Uptown/Queens-bound <font color="blue">E</font> subway from the lower level five stops to the Lexington Avenue station. Exit towards the back of the train for the Lexington Avenue end of the station, and you will be at the edge of the Citicorp Center complex at Lex and 53rd Street. Walk downtown - in the same direction as the car traffic - five blocks to your hotel. The Marriott is on the left side as you walk down Lex. (5 blocks = 1/4 mile)

Another option is to find an Avis office in NJ that is closer to the city than EWR. For example, if you drop it off in Jersey City or Hoboken, you can take the PATH train into Manhattan; if you can drop it near the Newark Penn train station, you cut out the AirTrain portion of the trip. (If you are interested in taking the PATH, let us know and someone will post more detailed info.)

MNjbjs, you got other responses on both of your other posts. Click on your name to pull them
you'll see most people think it's unwise to drive into the city, but there are several step-by step driving instructions given
Now the decision is up to you!

Look, if the car is free and you really want to drive into Manhattan, then do it. You aren't going to get a lot of validation from the people on this board who, by and large, don't recommend driving in Manhattan.

I'm sure there's an Avis office relatively near your hotel. I think there's one in the east 40s at one of the parking garages (I'm not sure this is Avis, though ... but car-rental outlets are pretty common in Manhattan), and if you find one that's in the east 40s or 50s it would be within fairly easy walking distance.

The Lincoln Tunnel is generally preferable to the Holland if you are staying in the east 40s because you can drive straight across town and right to your hotel. Lexington is a one-way avenue going downtown.

Left-hand turns are difficult in Manhattan on the two-way streets, so be sure you don't cross town on 42nd Street ... shoot for 40th or 44th and then go left on Madison to 50th where you turn left. And then right on Lex, which is the next Avenue. The hotel is on the left-hand side of the street. Drop off the passengers and luggage and then return the car by yourself.

Sorry, that was stupid. You go left on Madison (uptown) and then right on 50th (east), followed by another right on Lex (downtown).