Pretty sure he means that you pay for your vehicle parking INSIDE the ferry terminal on the Weehawken side...there are no booths with lot attendants outside. So don't leave the ticket in the car, put it in your wallet or purse.

Hmm, so we just park the car and leave it, without a ticket? And leave it for 5 days tha tway? Sounds strange, do I have this right?

I think the parking at the Weehawken ferry is $20/night if you leave it overnight but $10 if just for the day. You should phone since it's unclear on their website. http://nywaterway.com/Home/RidetheFe...ult.aspx?ID=11

MPO means you pay for parking at the terminal when you get off the ferry and then walk (or ride) to get to your car. So don't leave the ticket in the car, take it with you.

You park your car, and you go inside the terminal. Inside the terminal you will (1) pay for your ferry tickets, and (2) get a dated receipt that shows you are parked in the lot. When you get back from Manhattan, you take that receipt to the window inside the terminal and pay for your parking. It's pretty obvious when you get there.

Thanks all. I've looked at most of the options--the cheapest city parking I can find close to our hotel is about $195 for the length of our stay. At Weehawken it sounds like it would be $100 (plus the cost of the ferry,$8.50pp x 4). At Newark about $40-$60 plus the cost of the AirTrain ($15pp x 4).

I'm going to go over all this again and see what seems easiest. Perhaps parking near the hotel would be worth it.

Are you using http://nyc.bestparking.com to calculate your overall cost for parking in a lot near your hotel? A check on that site of a randomly selected four-day noon-to-noon stay (May 10–14) reveals a lot at 230 East 44th, a block from your hotel, that charges $132 for the four-day duration. This lot does not guarantee its rates, however, so it would be wise to call in advance. Several lots that do offer guaranteed rates and reservations are only a few blocks farther away and are in the $132 to $156 range. Note that, in order to assure the guaranteed rate, you must print off a coupon from the website.

While you are here do see the new exhibit at Museum of the City of New York about cars in New York City

http://thestarryeye.typepad.com/expl...til-aug-8.html

Thanks, I did check bestparking for my dates, and I see the same $195 for the Icon Valor parking lot close by the hotel. But my dates are later in May, 18-23.

BTW, is a reservation made online with one of these midtown parking lots reliable? Will the space really be there, at the price, when you arrive?

Well there will be room for your car. You don;t get a specific space, as the cars are parked nose to tail 3 or 4 deep - and they keep your keys so they can move all of the cars around as needed. But if you tell them you won;t use the car for a couple of days they will put it at the back of the row and it will probably not be moved much.

(In NYC if you want your own space - that no one else can use and in which the car won;t be moved, typically you will find this only in private garages in very upscale buildings and it will be $800 per month or more. Or, if you own your own townhouse - from $4/$5 million and up, which has a garage - very rare.)

Thanks for the answer--that's fine, we won't be using the car, just don't want to arrive at the lot and have no space available.

How close do I have to be in estimating my arrival? What with the long trip, and midtown traffic, that's going to be a bit tough. Guess it's okay to get there a bit early.

First, if you're willing to walk a few blocks, you can save yourself $30 to $40. Have a look again at the bestparking map. Note, however, that some of the less expensive garages are pretty small. I'd call ahead to ensure that your reserved space will be available.

BTW, your stay is five days; I did my initial survey using a four-day stay, noon-to-noon. Regarding your arrival time, if you click on a particular garage, you'll usually see a matrix that tells you the rate for an hour earlier or later arrival and departure. I arbitrarily chose noon arrival and noon departure, but, if you're parking for a few hours less than 24 on the last day, you may have a bit of a cushion.

Thanks to all for your great information.

After all that, we decided to fly. Booked our flights on Porter Air today, to Newark. We'll see how bad Newark airport is, haven't been there for years.

But I will pass this great information on to our buddy who drives to NY every couple of months for the opera.

Let me update this subject, September 2015, because this is where I originally found the information -and it worked out great!

Park at the parking garage at Port Imperial / Weehawken, New Jersey:
http://www.nywaterway.com/IndoorParkingGarage.aspx
The cost is $14 per day and the car can stay as long as you like.

Then take the ferry ($9 one way) across to New York City (Manhattan):
http://nywaterway.com/PortImperialWe...nTerminal.aspx

Once you have arrived on Manhattan, there are a couple of free buses you can get on, which will take you to (or at least close to) your destination:
http://nywaterway.com/ManhattanBus.aspx

I can highly recommend this, it works great, rather than parking on Manhattan.