Lillith

Hi all, I'm new here, have been lurking past couple of days. Love the day planning tips! While I've been to NYC 4 times before, have not paid alot of attention to route taken by driver to and from city. Last summer I did. We left from Lexington on UES for LGA. The driver took me thru Spanish Harlem. At one light several young men approach cab, cat calling, grabbing themselves...Needless to say I was very frightened. Not to mention the cabbie drove like a bat out of hell. I was so nauseas (sp?) by the time reached LGA. I would like to avoid this route in the future. (will be back in city late August, again returning to airport alone) What route should I tell the cabby to take to and from LGA? Thanks in advance.

nyer

You can tell the driver to take the FDR drive from 96th street to get to the Triboro Bridge (rather than the local street access to the bridge). BUT if there's heavy traffic, you may regret it (and if you're in a cab with the meter running you could rack up some extra $$$).
I usually go the FDR/Triboro route, but if the driver tells me there's traffic, I'll go the way you did. I have never seen anything like what you experienced taking the local streets.

dmlove

I have never seen anything like what you experienced taking the local streets.

Me either. I really think it was an anomaly.

MFNYC

I've never experienced that either, and I have driven through all kinds of NYC neighborhoods many times.

Gekko

I drive up to the Triborough through "Spanish Harlem" all the time on surface streets and have NEVER experienced such behavior.

Don't worry about it and trust your taxi driver to take the best route.

ellenem

Will you be staying in the same neighborhood? Choice of route depends on your starting point.

I, too, have never seen such behavior directed at a cab. However, were the young men's girlfriends on the other side of the street? Perhaps you were just stuck in between . . .

starrs

I took a Carmel car to and from the airport this trip and was very glad I did. My fare was less than my friend's cab fare. He arrived on a Saturday (less traffic) and was taken on a route he'd never been driven on before.

Check out Carmel - sometimes their website offers discounts too.

http://www.carmellimo.com/

mclaurie

I agree what you experienced was rare but can understand you didn't know that and felt threatened. If you're traveling during rush hour, local streets are often faster than the FDR drive. Perhaps this time you should consider taking a car service?

dial7.com
has rates comparable to a taxi. Are you staying on the UES again?

nytraveler

I take that route all the time (it's often faster if the FDR is backed up) - like dozens and dozens of times - and have never seen anything like that.

It sounds like you ran into a couple of drunks. I wouldn't imagine it would happen again - and even if it did - what could they do?

Let the cabbie decide the route based on traffic (he makes more getting to the next rider sooner).

Lillith

Thanks to all for responses and suggestions. Given that you who live there and travel this route frequently have never had an experience as I did, does indicate this was an isolated incident. This does assuage my nervousness about traveling this route again.
Ellenem~you made me laugh. (at myself) I was remembering how uncomfortable I was, staring straight ahead silently willing light to change, all the while these young men might have just been flirting with their girlfriends across the street; unaware that they just scared some tourist to death!
I'm staying on the UWS this trip, not certain if this will alter route to LGA or not. Not to worry, I feel much better about it all now. Thanks again for suggestions and calming my fears.

ellenem

True or not, this different outlook might put a new spin on your last departure from NYC.

Once a friend and I started to cross the street in NYC, and a driver stopped at the light started yelling and gesturing at us. We paused, wondering what we had done. We weren't crossing against the light . . . what was wrong? Then we realized the driver was on the phone.

doug_stallings

You all know that I am a big cheapskate, so I can't fail to chime in here and remind everyone that the Triborough Bridge adds a minimum of $10 to each taxi fare to or from LaGuardia (unless you are staying much close to 125th St). Plus $5 for the bridge toll. I still hold that it's almost always cheaper to take a taxi from the UES across the Queensboro Bridge than to take the Triborough, which is a huge detour north.

cassidy2002

Doug,

I instructed the taxi driver to take the Queensboro Bridge on my recent visit based on my friend's advice. However, the traffic was so terrible that I ended up paying pretty much what it would have been taking the Triborough according to my host.

Now, I am not an expert by any means, this was just my recent experience!

Centralparkgirl

Doug, I have to disagree. I live on the UES and the traffic TO 59th Street can often be a nightmare with all the trucks, not to mention the traffic on the bridge mostly because it's free. Time of day is key of course, but usually from the UES, when traffic is light, it takes me 15-20 minutes to LGA over the Triborough.

Bottom line, what time of day are they traveling?

And you're not a cheapskate!

Gekko

If the starting point is the UES, the Triborough Bridge is far & away the best route to LGA.

FDR or surface streets -- that's the consideration.

doug_stallings

These are good points. The time of day makes all the difference, and it's always a trade-off. It's farther, and you always pay for that. But you also pay a steep price now to be stuck in traffic, and that can easily overwhelm any savings from not paying the toll (I paid $45 one Friday afternoon just to LGA from west Midtown at 55th St). If it's an off-hour, then you can definitely save both money and time by going via the Queensboro.

Using a car service to the airport instead of a taxi solves all the arguments about distance, though, and then only time matters, and then I'd be more inclined to agree with Centralparkgirl and Gekko.

Lillith

Author: Doug_Stallings
Date: 06/18/2008, 01:18 pm

"If it's an off-hour, then you can definitely save both money and time by going via the Queensboro"

What are the "off hours" in NYC? I live in the south and I think we start a little earlier, and finish earlier than new yorkers. ~Left over from farming culture, get up before it gets too hot. I understand of course there are no definites as far as street congestion, just looking for some guidelines.
Thanks!