New York City Subway/Metro North RR - Night Traveling OK?
 

I have read many posts about the New York City Subway...but my husband wants to make sure it is OK (safe) to travel via the Subway and the Metro North RR after our 7:00 p.m. broadway show is over? We do have 2 children. Thoughts???

Most musicals usually last about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. So that will put you on the street about 9:30-10:00

You will shocked how many people will be on the street and in the subway, especially in mid-town. Metro North is a commuter line and is extremely safe. Do not be surprised by soldiers with rifles in Grand Central Station. It is a precaution against terrorist attacks,and not for any other reason.

I have no specfic thoughts about your children as I have not met them.

The only "danger" you'll encounter in Times Square these days is being squashed by all the other tourists, and the people catering to them (such as vendors - avoid the men in yellow or red shirts unless you want to be talked into a bus tour...)!

From Times Square to Metro North at Grand Central, you have three options, all of which will be fine at that time of night:
- Take a crosstown city bus eastbound on 42nd Street. (City buses use the same Metrocard as the subway and cost the same.)
- Take the (S) Shuttle subway, which only runs back and forth between TS and GCT.
- Walk! GCT is only 5 blocks straight across town to the east, and while there will be less people on the streets east of TS, it's still fine to walk. If you're at all hesitant, walk along busier 42nd Street instead of the smaller cross streets like the one the theater is on - and catch that bus if you see it approaching.

...And if you haven't encountered Aduchamp1 before, please know he is one of the most humorous people on these boards! :)

Yes it is safe.

The bus and subway is how we all get around the city, and runs 24/7, it has to.......that's how we all get around the city. Have a great time while you are here.

The subway within Manhatten is perfectly safe at all hours. I wouldn;t take it into some areas of the outer boroughs in the middle of the night - but 10:30 or 11 pm is NOT late.

And from a broadway theater to Grand Central I would walk (unless the kids are very small - in which case they shouldn;t be at an evening performance). Much better to stretch your legs after sitting for 3 hours. And the subways should still be running frequently then - every 5 to 10 minutes - if you do want to take one.

However, while MetroNorth is perfectly safe at night it is designed for commuters and many stations tend to have very few trains. So before finalizing plans do check the schedule for the town you will be going to -- they may have only 1 train per hour - and after 1 or 2 am they often have a 2 or 3 hour gap before morning trains, another point is how you will get from the train station to wherever you are staying - will you have a car parked there - or need to rely on a taxi? If the latter be sure you have their phone number and know the hours they are available,

Good point about the Croton train station. It's a decent-sized station, but like many commuter towns, the station is on the edge of the commercial district (rather than within it). Definitely pick up the most recent printed timetable at the beginning of your first trip, so that you can refer to it throughout your visit.

Grand Central Terminal is safe, well-lit and bustling even at later hours, with plenty of security around as Adu mentioned. There's a terrific selection of outposts of local restaurants on the lower-level Dining Concourse, though they will be closed by the time you get there after the play.
http://www.grandcentralterminal.com/

Last Metro North trains run about 1 or 2am as nyt said. On Fri and Sat nights those can be quite entertaining as late night revelers return home to the suburbs.

So can the first 6am trains Sat or Sun morning, full of partygoers who missed the 2am train. They're usually pretty quiet at 6am.

I would have no concern riding any Metro North train any time of day. Do check schedules. Most trains after rush hour tend to be milk wagons which stop at every stop. Good if you're going to a minor station. Painfully slow if you are used to an express. Croton Harmon (your stop, near the CP RV park) is a major station - all train on the Hudson line stop there. There's a 10:05 & 11:15pm express, and another at 12:08am.

There are two separate stations Croton Harmon and Croton Falls on different lines. In any event there is limited cab service late.

And there is extremely limited service on Metro North after midnight. It is advisable to check in advance.

Yes, what J62 said! :) I wasn't specific enough: I meant the Croton Harmon station, which according to google maps is closest to the RV park.

Sorry, I did remember the RV part.

We recently took MetroNorth toward Connecticut around 9 p.m. on a Tuesday night and while 11 is a bit later, at 9, there were far more people on the train than I expected, even some standing. It was like rush hour anywhere else. The point is, I guess, that everything in NY is "later" than it is elsewhere, crowded trains included.

The issue isn't safety or how crowded the trains are - it's that after commuting hours they run much less frequently - versus perhaps every 20 minutes at rush hours.

First time I've ever experienced a post being deleted here. Can't the monitors take a joke? (Warren, it was about your gruff exterior.)

Which one was deleted? Once something is deleted Fodor's usually leaves a sign as to not trip in the pot hole.

I am not gruff. I have been a curmudgeon all my life but now that I am older, people wronglty think it is a newly acquired characteristic.

bspielman, I also don't think your post was deleted. I've been experiencing some posting glitches recently, so it could've been something like that. FWIW, I commented on Adu's "gruff exterior" all the way upthread and it wasn't deleted!

Adu, as for your demeanor, any observant person can see that it's been finely honed over the years - more practiced finesse than the raw outbursts of a newfound attribute.

GGreen, as always you are a keen observer of the human condition. Bspielman, on the other hand, is still astonished at the things I say and this inability to anticipate bad behavior simply encourages me.

Warren, I had commented that, were the OP's kids to meet you, they'd find that, beneath your gruff exterior, there is an equally gruff interior.

"Finely honed" curmudgeonliness, of course!

And, in response to the OP, I mentioned that we had been in Wednesday night for dinner (at The Lambs Club on 44th just off Broadway—very good) and theater (<i>Nice Work if You Can Get It</i>—terrific!). It was everything we could do to negotiate the throngs milling about in Times Square, even after post-theater drinks at about 11:30 p.m.!

There were no posts deleted. When one is deleted the editors put in a note saying they have deleted one or more.

Sounds more like a posting glitch.