Should I take the train or drive in?
 

Which is better when heading to NYC - taking the train in from New Haven or Bridgeport (and leaving your car there) or driving all the way into the city? I'm talking about a 3-night stay. Would the car be safe at either of these train stations?
Thanks!

You don't need and really don't want a car in Manhattan. I'd take the MetroNorth RR from CT, either NH, Bridgport, or drive to the S. Norwalk MetroNorth RR station and take the commuter train from there to Grand Central - express trains take about 1hr.

Parking in NYC will run you big $.

Where are you staying in NYC? That would help in terms of suggestions re parking and the garage situation. Not sure about New Haven but I would not leave my car in Bridgeport.

We're staying at the Best Western Hospitality House, E.49th & Lexington. We'll be driving down from NH.

You are better off taking the train, after all - Grand Central station is nearby, garage will run AT Least $30-35 for 24 hrs. Look into parking at a smaller train station like Norwalk - New Haven and Bridgeport are big cities, not the safest for long-term parking.

We've left our car at the New Haven station several times with no incident. It's a large parking structure attached to the train station, and I always assumed with some measures of security in place. I wouldn't have felt comfortable just leaving my car on the street, but the garage always seemed plenty safe.

I would make the decision based on cost and convenience. Compare cost of train and parking in Ct. to just parking in NYC. Go to iconparking.com and fill in your approx arrival and departure times, pick east 40s or 50s location and see where the closest cheapest place is. It's a lot easier to avoid dragging luggage and kids on the train if you can avoid it.

Leave the car unless you have unmanageable luggage.

I'm assuming LogCabinMom is coming with kids given the choice of hotel. I think it may be cheaper and a lot easier to drive right up to the hotel and unload and then dump the car and may cost the same or less than train tickets for a family & parking.

Thanks for the link to the parking site - they range from $110-145 near the hotel.
With our 3 kids, I need convenience, but also need to save $ anywhere I can.
I was kind of hoping to bring our own port-a-crib (youngest is 18mths), but don't relish dragging it on the train.

So - train tix (from New Haven) will cost $60, parking at the station is $24 - a total of $84 (plus taxi from grand central to the hotel); as opposed to parking in the city for at least $110.

Not sure what to do! I'm thinking driving in might win out.

LogCabinMom, don't lug your crib for a couple of reasons.

It may not fit in the hotel room. Even though the BW Hospitality House is all suite, the room may not have the space.

Call the BW Hospitality House and tell them you'll need a crib and that way they'll put you in a large enough room to have one.

I agree with GoT that you phone the hotel and find out whether they can provide a crib. But even if you don't bring one, I'd still rather avoid schlepping 3 kids on a train with luggage. Drive in. It's worth the convenience, esp. for such a short trip. Well, that's my thinking. I also think you should be able to do better than $110 on parking if you go a bit further east. Which area did you check? This garage of theirs
SUTTON 53 PARKING LLC
413 East 53rd Street
New York , NY 10022

is usually cheap.

Btw, is this for Memorial Weekend? If yes, I might feel differently in terms of traffic. What days (of the week) are you coming and going?

Well, I called the hotel and they said they'll charge $35/day for a crib, and the garage they recommend is $31/day, 2-3 blocks over.
Thanks for the suggestion on the parking - we're not going Memorial day weekend, actually the week immediately prior, Mon-Thurs. Will traffic out of the city on Thurs. afternoon be ghastly?

Ghastly, no. But I'd try to avoid rush hour. Either leave before 4 or wait until 6:30.

Remember the $31/day prob. won't include tax which is about 20% on garages. STill doesn't sound too bad.

Here are two ideas:

Go to www.iconparking.com where you can do much better than $36/night and still park within a reasonable walk (or bus/subway ride) from your hotel.

Assuming there are two drivers, one of you drops everyone else (and the bags and the portacrib) off at the hotel entrance, then parks the car in the garage and walks back to the hotel. Do the same in reverse when checking out.

No way I'd haul kids and bags on the train...

Or, check out the NY Waterways website. You can park cheaply overnight in their lots, take the commuter ferry, then the free shuttle to the hotel (just the driver, who has dropped everyone and all the stuff off first).

PS If you're not locked in to your hotel room, you may want to check availability at the Travel Inn. It's nicely enough located and has FREE parking (along with a fabulous pool.)

Thanks everyone for your advice - I think we've decided to drive in. We'll be out of our element enough without trying to do the train thing this time. Maybe next year....