Where to Park in NYC for the Day?
 

Hello

Will be heading into NYC this November with two 8 year old girls to enjoy a day trip from Boston. Please recommend parking lots to park at and what we should expect for costs.

Thanks.

Driving to NYC from Boston for a daytrip? Are you serious? That's at least a seven-hour round-trip drive!
Oh well, parking can cost you anywhere from $15 to $40. What do you plan to visit while here? Since you wlll be spending so little time in the city, I'd spend the extra bucks to park conveniently, rather than wasting time parking in a less-than-convenient spot and spending time getting to where you're going!

I'd reconsider staying in NJ and taking the train into the City as opposed to making a day trip from Boston!

Have you ever done the Boston-NY-Boston trip in a day? We have! It's a real pain in the you-know-what! And that's just the driving. I couldn't imagine sightseeing much inbetween.

isabella, what day? The reason I ask is there are several really busy days in November where driving and parking are going to be next to impossible and public transportation (Amtrak, NJ Transit, bus) may be a much more viable option.

What about the hotel on the river in NJ with a great view of Manhattan and a short ferry ride over?

The Sheraton Weehauken or the Hyatt Jersey City?

I agree with Howard that NYC is not a day trip on public transport, let alone driving. Hope there's another adult to share the drive. Have you considered Amtrak? There are some discount codes that could make it a good option.

Where to park depends on where you're going in Manhattan. iconparking.com is a website that allows you to reserve a spot at one of their garages around town. How much you pay depends on how many hours, day of the week etc. What day of the week are you going?

Apart from Icon, if it's a weekend, esp. a Sunday, there are lots of deals for $10-115 for the day in the theater district.

Here's the tiny url for Amtrak. They are running specials for Northeast travel. There are some November blackout dates, but see if you can save some money.

http://tinyurl.com/ntm5v

mclaure, my thinking is that if they try and get into Manhattan on the 5th or the 23rd, it will take them hours and they may not find parking.

The OP has mentioned in other threads that two parents are taking the two kids. So driving can be shared. For four travelers, driving (even with parking) is definitely more effective than public transit, both in time and money.

You may be coming from the Bostom suburbs - so I don;t know the exact time for you. But I have driven NYC (but upper west side - not midtown) to center Boston and it is 4 hours - no less. And I don't drive slowly (at least 10/15 over the limit).

I would never attempt this as a day trip with 8 year olds unless you want 2 incredibly grumpy kids on the way back. Even if you leave Boston at 7am - you won't get to midtown until after 11am - probably closer to noon by the time you park.

And it makes no sense to leave until 7pm (to avoid homegoing traffic) - so you won;t reach home until after 11pm - for 7 hours in NYC including meals.

If you tell us what you had planned to see/do - we can tell you the best place to park - but I really would reconsider this and make it an overnight.

I'd suggest staying overnight so you won't be quite so hassled. The Travel Inn on W. 42nd St offers free parking to guests, so you can arrive, check in and walk/subway/bus to site see from there. You might also get some theatre tickets there are several shows up the kids would love like Beauty and the Beast or The Lion King.

Have a great time while you are here.

If you have a minivan or SUV, parking lots or garages will charge you more than for a sedan.

If you do this difficult trip I would leave my car in a parking lot in the Bronx and take the subway the rest of the way to Manhattan. This is the quickest way to do it. Traffic in Manhattan is really bad during the holiday season.

I don't think it's quite as bad as the others are saying. I live in Western Mass and drive to NYC frequently, usually for an overnight, but occassionaly just for the day. Having two drivers to split the driving helps. I'd recommend the following different options:

1)www.weparknewyork.com (icon parking) - to to website and pick times and locations to see prices. They vary GREATLY, sometimes just going a block or two from your first choice can save you alot. Locations all over the city.

2) you can park for free in several areas, I usually go to the upper west side. Side streets (93rd, 94th, etc) have alternate side parking so for just one day you're fine. I usually find a space with not too much trouble, especially Friday - Sunday.

3) Spend the night somewhere in Westchester or southern conn. I'm assuming you aren't staying in Manhattan due to cost and/or lack of availability. It should be better up there and then you can probably take Metro North into Grand Central for about $10. (But check, by the time you do 4 round trip tickets it might not be saving that much). Or you could stay up there and still drive in. If you enter the paid parking lots by a certain time (usually 10am) you can often park for $10 for the day.

Isabel, please tell me where to find those $10 parking lots in midtown if you get there before 10 a.m. I've not encoutered them during my many drives into the city.
Also, for someone who's driving into the city just for the day, it seems silly to wait until 11 a.m. to when the alternate side of the street parking restrictions end and you can park free. Further, it's not as easy to find those free spaces uptown as it used to be.

We used the Icon parking site, given by someone above, and reserved a spot. I think we payed about $25 for an overnight stay. I posted a trip report, and you can probably find the particulars there. I think I called in "Short NYC Trip Report."

When we got to the garage, they were turning others away, so the reservation came in very handy.

I just went to the "weparknewyork" site and put in this coming Saturday, Oct 21 from 10am to 7pm. For the upper west side I got about 10 garages ranging from $12 to $37. For downtown (financial district) I got about 10 garages/lots, all but one were in the $9-12 range for that time frame. So it's very possible. I've done it many times.

The last time I parked for free on the upper west side was in August. I have friends who live there and they gave up their garage due to the cost and now move their car from place to place every few days. I admit it might be a drag to have to go move your car every two days, but they are saving a ton of money and say they have no trouble finding spots. They've been doing this for almost a year so it can't be that hard. Given that they can afford an upper west side rent I think they could go back renting a garage space if they found the street parking to be too awful, and they haven't.

Howard, I noticed you said "midtown" so I tried that at the icon site and also got several for $10 (54th, 57th, etc) - there were lots in the $12-17 range, and some that were more. I think weekends might be cheaper than weekdays, though I have definitly parked for under $20 for the day on weekdays as well. It seems crazy but in many cases at least it's the getting there by 10am that makes a difference (though if you reserve on the web site I think you can get decent prices for later in the day also).

Also, you don't have to wait till 11am for the alternate side of the street parking if you are only going for one day, you just find a side that's ok for the day you are there. If going on a weekend they're all ok.