Parking in New York
 

My sister and I are driving from Rochester, NY to the city for a couple days in December. I know what a pain it is to have a car in the city, but I will have mine, no way of getting around it!! any ideas where to park or stay that will not be so frustrating? Thanks all!

A place to park is not hard. There are garages all over the city. It's the cost that can be problematic.

Will you be staying at a hotel? If so, for starters, you should ask your hotel if they have a garage or get discounted rates at a nearby lot for their guests. Do you just need to park it for the duration - and not need in and out privileges? That may make a difference in cost.

I think there is a website of NYC garage rates, but not sure what it is.

Very generally speaking, I find garages seems to cost less the farther east or west you go, unless the garage is right next to a tourist spot like the UN, or another kind of place with lots of visitors, like a hospital.

You can also try to go to residential areas and see what alternate side rules of parking may be. If they coincide with your trip and will not take any additional time, it may save money.

With all due respect, Aduchamp1, I think it's insane to recommend that a visitor who isn't used to driving in Manhattan try to park on a residential street in the middle of December and try to navigate the city's arcane parking rules to park for free. New Yorkers can't even manage to figure this out.

The posters need to suck it up and be prepared to pay $30 to $45 per night for parking in a garage. It's a simple as that.

I don't even advocate finding an out-of-the-way garage. When you are driving into a city with which you are not familiar carrying luggage and trying to find your hotel, you need to park as close to your hotel as humanly possible. For such a short trip, it's simply not worth the hassle (extreme) of finding cheap or free parking.

Try googling Alliance Parking. Someimes they have parking coupons.

Agree completely with Doug. As a tourist, do you really want to deal with *extremely expensive* parking tickets and/or a towed car? Aduchamp - Do you live in NYC?

If you haven't made hotel reservations yet, the Travel Inn on W42nd St offers FREE parking to guests. It's a well priced and comfortable hotel, not far from the theatres, Times Square and tons of restaurants close by.

Aduchamp - Do you live in NYC?

All my life and now live downtown.

I know that alternate side rules can be as complex as the Jewish dietary laws but there are some that simply say, No parking Tue % Thur 9-11.

100,000's of NY'ers do it daily we all know they are all not genuises.

It was also an alternative to paying 80 bucks for two days.

And of course, no one gets gets their car dinged in the lots.

At this very moment, I am in NYC and my car is across the Hudson in Weehawken, NJ, where we parked it and took the ferry to Manhattan. I think it's $20 a day to park there, but it was very easy and a nice way to get into the city. Your ferry fare (about $7.50 each way) includes a bus that will take you to various places in the city. I recommend it.

Not only can you get dinged in lots, it can be worse.

Those lots with the lifts so they can store 2 cars in one spot? They don't work sometimes and the top car drops on the bottom car. How's that for a serious ding? Rarely happens, but it happens.

Alternate side of the street parking only works if yuo will be here for a couple of days including a weekend. Otherwise you will find yourself having to break off whatever you're doing to go back to the car and change side between 11:10 am and 1 pm - or whatever the time is for that neighborhood. and realize that finding a spot at all can take 20/30 minutes of driving around. and when the streets are cleaned all the locals are sitting there waiting for the new spots to open up - and you have to race them for it.

Agree that parking in a garage is all that makes sense. Ask your hotel for the most reasonable place nearby.

Thanks all, I am from Chicago, so I know all about the parking hassles of a huge city, parking on different sides of the street and what not!!! I thought maybe there was a parking dream that maybe locals new about :-) Wishful thinking!!!

bestparking.com will give you an idea of prices. In addtion to iconparking.com centralparking.com also lets you reserve in advance. Your other option is to leave the car outside Manhattan and train in. The ferry terminal at Weehawken, NJ's Port Imperial charges $20/day for overnight parking which is usually cheaper than what you can find in Manhattan. nywaterway.com is the website for info. You can take the ferry over or a bus.

So funny. We drove a rental down from Boston on a Sunday night in May. Got into NYC up near Columbia about 9 pm. Must have gone 100 miles (at least it felt that far!) looking for parking that wouldn't involve moving our car the next morning during the middle of daughter's graduation. I couldn't believe all the different signs and rules, not to mention that NYC requires a longer space to be left at corners and fire hydrants than we're used to. Finally gave up after more than an hour, and dropped it at rental spot. Used a cab for moving daughter's stuff the next afternoon!

drive and park at one of the commuter or metro north train stations... leave car there and take train to grand central. either that or valet at hotel and cough up the dough. you will definitely not need, nor use, your car in manhattan. to bring it in is insane

The Metro North station in Poughkeepsie has free parking on weekends so depending on which days you're visiting, you might want to consider that. http://as0.mta.info/mnr/stations/sta...ail.cfm?key=58

If you decide to park outside of Manhattan the closest and most convenient might well be the Municipal Parking Lot at Court Square in Long Island City (Queens). It is just over the 59 St. Bridge. Subway stop is on on the corner and it is a 10 minute ride into mid-town. Rates are reasonable - cheaper than in Manhattan. There is a web site for these Municipal lots - google can find it.

The OP is coming from Rochester, NY. The best way to arrive in NYC from Rochester, is via Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Making the extra trip to Long Island to park is adding hours of headaches. Poughkeepsie is a better option, but still not along the way of the best driving route. Plus train tickets from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central/NYC cost $15-$20 each way. For two travelers, that's $60-$80 in train tickets.

If you must come by car, ditch the car somewhere in New Jersey or just drive into the city and pay for parking. Your actual agony on city streets will be brief if you don't plan to use the car during your visit.

Not sure if ellenem is referring to my post re parking in Long Island City. Long Island City - despite its name - is on the western tip of the boro of Queens ( hardly what we think of when we mention the suburban areas of Long Island) - just over the 59 St. Bridge - about a 5 minute ride from Manhattan and the subway is a ten minute ride into midtown.

jtroth,
yes, I was referring to your post because I believe the OP is seeking a way to avoid city traffic and driving and parking in the city in general. To drive from Rochester and reach Long Island City the OP would have to cross multiple bridges or tunnels which always adds to the agony of getting around the NY-metro area. For some visitors, Long Island City would be the perfect solution--I don't believe so for this situation.

I wonder if it is cheaper to leave it in long-term at Newark Airport and take the PATH or a cab in to the city, or NJ Transit to NY Penn.

ellenem - the OP noted that they consider it a hassle to be burdened with a car once in the city - true. But I was just offering an option - this visitor can drive right up to their hotel dump their luggage and then take the car to LIC for inexpensive parking. Driving into the city - to the hotel - is not that much different than driving around Rochester. What you want to avoid is using the car in town. Parking in Poughkeepsie is about a one hour or so ride into town (once you get on the train - and add a half hour or so for the wait)) on the RR (with luggage) and paying RR fare - and ditto to return. Anyway - just an option to consider.

Where are you staying in the city? That might make a difference as well. I'm in Hamilton Heights, and there is onstreet parking but cars have to be moved every couple of days, but once you know the rules, it's not that much of a problem. In this area (keep this quiet please) you can usually find parking on one of the side streets, from 146th to 155th and the A train is close by. If you don't mind taking the subway downtown, you shouldn't have a problem, unless we have had a big snowstorm, then ALL bets are off.

"Couple of days"???

Sometimes it seems a little foolish to overthink these things. Assume for a minute that you're talking two days which becomes three days (over 24 hours the third perhaps. Parking in NJ or Brooklyn for maybe $20 a day is now $60 total. Two people round trip on a ferry is another $30. So we're up to $90, plus figuring out how to get from the ferry to the hotel with the luggage, etc. How much does that really save from just parking at a nearby garage after dropping off your luggage?

Before you get too carried away go back to ellem's link in the second post of this thread. Enter your dates and your area and see what they find for you. You might actually end up parking close, make the whole thing easier, and save money from schlepping back and forth between boroughs or states!

I have lived in the city for 10 years and my parents have always driven into Manhattan to visit. You can find street parking easily in certain neighborhoods (Upper East and Upper West Sides). Sunday's you are allowed to park on the Avenues for free, so its even easier. If you are here during the week, be careful about alternate side parking. You can book a hotel on the UWS or UES. You may have to drive around to look for a spot, but it has never taken me more than 20 minutes. Worth the time to not spend $40+ a day to me.

The problem is that if you are downtown you would have to rush back uptown in the middle of the day - wasting several hours - in order to move your car from one side of the street to another. Parking on the street is only viable is you are visiting Friday to Sun or Fri to Mon (and then only on one side if each street.

Negotiating it is easy if you live here. But I can;t imagine wasting several hours daily out of a very few vacation days to save a few $.

And remember, if you inadvertently park in the wrong spot and are towed it will cost in excess of $1000 (minimum $150 parking ticket, towing fee and police lot impound fee) and the better part of a day to get your car back.

nytraveler makes an excellent point. I once missed a sign 20 feet above the street and received a $150 parking ticket. That was over 20 years ago. Much more expensive now...

My initial post included a caveat that the parking days should coincide with their trip and not take away additional time.

But I learned long ago, do not to spend other people's money.

People are trying to save money and if there are different ways to do it and still keep traveling than those different ideas should be encouraged rather being called insane or questioning one's NY cred.

And we as NY'ers should not think that every vistor is a first timer or some timid soul. There are those who can read and those who understand a mistake my cost money.

>>nytraveler makes an excellent point. I once missed a sign 20 feet above the street and received a $150 parking ticket. That was over 20 years ago. Much more expensive now...>>

Yes - I also got a ticket because the sign was 20 feet (or maybe more) above street level. I photographed it. Showed it to the judge. He dismissed the ticket.

A thousand years ago when we lived in Brooklyn Heights, i budgeted for two parking a month. It was still cheaper than a garage.

I received a parking ticket at the same time of the Patty Hearst kidnapping. I told the judge my story but he reamined unconvinced. (He actually said that I was too smart for my own good.) Then I asked him would he beleive that I was kidnapped, brainwashed, and forced to park there. He said of course not, but it was the best story he heard that day, and gave me a couple of bucks off.

How about driving over to Albany and training down into the city. I seem to remember a relative of mine who worked in Albany several times a week doing this. I think there were a lot of trains and it was an easy trip.

Calvin Trillin's "Tepper isn't Going Out" addresses this problem with humor.

You can get 2 round trip train tickets from Albany to Manhattan for less than two days parking?

I think it's about $50 one way on Amtrak and takes around 2.5 hrs. Parking in NYC can be VERY expensive. Maybe something to think about. I assume there is a nominal parking fee up in Albany, but everything seems nominal compared to the city.

Considering the OP's dilemma, how about renting a car one way in Rochester, dropping it off in NYC when you arrive, and renting a car one way in NYC and dropping it off in Rochester?

Yes, and you'd probably only have to take out a second mortgage to do that!!!

ftiznj -- $50 one way is $200 round trip on Amtrak and doesn't get them to their hotel in NYC. If they can't find two days parking for less than $200 then they really shouldn't go to New York at all!!!

This might sound a bit nutty, but I might consider parking in New Jersey on a legal, quiet, residential road where overnight parking is permitted and taking a quick bus to the city if you do not need your car while you visit NYC. Maybe a NJ motel would even permit you to pay a nominal charge to leave your car on their lot for a few days. Good luck!

Parking in a quiet neighborhood in NJ may not be the answer either.

First, you have to get form the neighborhood to a train station and take the train into the city - not free and can be a hassle with luggage.

Second, you have to understand the local parking rules. There are towns in Jersey and LI that have a variety of parking rules to protect local homeowners - including rules that don;t allow any parking on the street between 2 am and 6 am. And there are no signs to that affect. People who live there know it. And those that don't live there shouldn't be parking there. (The idea is that local police can cruise the neighborhood and ANY car on the street is immediately suspicious - and gets ticketed and/or towed - and homeowners often awakened to see if the car belongs to them or a guest.)

As for parking in a train station lot - many are completely filled before 8 am - and many are open only to town residents with appropriate stickers.

Really just paying for a few night's parking is the simplest solution. And I can;t think of a much cheaper one for two people who are staying only a couple of nights.

Ok... say you parked at an Icon lot on the Upper West Side(say 97th and Columbus) beginning Friday late morning to Sunday late morning, it would cost $64 including tax for the ENTIRE weekend. Wouldn't something like this make the most sense?