Help me leave my luggage in the city without being bomb-squaded
May 18, 2010 5:51 PM
Where can I stash my bags in Brooklyn?
Hey NYC-fites. I arrive in your city around 2pm Thursday and won't meet up with my gracious hosts until 8:30pm. That leaves me with 7.5 hours that I'd love to be mobile and kick it around Brooklyn but will be stuck with my luggage. Other friends have offered to let me use their place after work, but what should I do with my bag (and self, for that matter) for the first few hours? MoMA no longer checks luggage so I can't hang out there in the meantime. Do any other places still allow it? I can only find one legit looking luggage storage and it's all the way in Hell's Kitchen. Are there any secret stash spots you might suggest? Open to anywhere basically but with a specific eye to Brooklyn.
Hey NYC-fites. I arrive in your city around 2pm Thursday and won't meet up with my gracious hosts until 8:30pm. That leaves me with 7.5 hours that I'd love to be mobile and kick it around Brooklyn but will be stuck with my luggage. Other friends have offered to let me use their place after work, but what should I do with my bag (and self, for that matter) for the first few hours? MoMA no longer checks luggage so I can't hang out there in the meantime. Do any other places still allow it? I can only find one legit looking luggage storage and it's all the way in Hell's Kitchen. Are there any secret stash spots you might suggest? Open to anywhere basically but with a specific eye to Brooklyn.
This is a tough one. I've been in the same situation and used the one in Hell's Kitchen that you found. They were fine and I had no problems. It's surprising that someone else with a similar warehouse like space doesn't do the same thing.
posted by Frank Grimes at 5:56 PM on May 18, 2010
posted by Frank Grimes at 5:56 PM on May 18, 2010
I once had that problem in Florida, and ended up renting a car just for the lockable trunk. Not as good an option in NYC, I realize.
posted by timepiece at 7:00 PM on May 18, 2010
posted by timepiece at 7:00 PM on May 18, 2010
I'd try a hotel and see if you could pay them $10 or $20 to hold the bags for the day.
posted by 6550 at 7:03 PM on May 18, 2010
posted by 6550 at 7:03 PM on May 18, 2010
Arriving via Penn Station? There's a left luggage facility just across the street.
posted by schmod at 7:14 PM on May 18, 2010
posted by schmod at 7:14 PM on May 18, 2010
Actually, a bit of further googling indicates that the left luggage facility in Penn Station may also still be operational. Good luck finding it though.
posted by schmod at 7:16 PM on May 18, 2010
posted by schmod at 7:16 PM on May 18, 2010
I have read lots of complaints about the left luggage near Penn Station so I would not recommend it. I have been told that the left luggage in Penn Station is still functional and I would try them first.
Can you meet your hosts at their place of employ and stash the bag there? Can you pick up a key and head to Brooklyn? Is there a neighbor or super or trusted bodega near your hosts that they could make arrangements with? In a post 9/11 world (and given recent events in our fair city), no one is checking bags any more.
posted by micawber at 7:51 PM on May 18, 2010
Can you meet your hosts at their place of employ and stash the bag there? Can you pick up a key and head to Brooklyn? Is there a neighbor or super or trusted bodega near your hosts that they could make arrangements with? In a post 9/11 world (and given recent events in our fair city), no one is checking bags any more.
posted by micawber at 7:51 PM on May 18, 2010
I've checked luggage successfully at the Whitney in the not-too-distant past, though you'd want to call and confirm if it's still allowed, especially if you have more than one bag. I'd also check with P.S.1 if you want to be in Brooklyn.
posted by susanvance at 8:25 PM on May 18, 2010
posted by susanvance at 8:25 PM on May 18, 2010
it's not a guarantee, but I've had decent luck checking bags at hotels I wasn't staying at.
Depending on the hotel, there are three strategies:
1) say you're having lunch/drinks at the hotel restaurant and ask to check your bags.
2) say you checked out earlier, and didn't realize how much time you had to kill, and ask to check your bags. (variation, you're checking in later, and your "friend" whose name the reservation's in hasn't showed yet)
3) $10-20 in hand, "I'd like to check my bag." offer no explanation.
I've done #1 in vegas, #2 in chicago, and #3 in orlando. it's a crapshoot, but I'd be really surprised if you tried more than one hotel and got denied.
posted by mercredi at 9:13 PM on May 18, 2010
Depending on the hotel, there are three strategies:
1) say you're having lunch/drinks at the hotel restaurant and ask to check your bags.
2) say you checked out earlier, and didn't realize how much time you had to kill, and ask to check your bags. (variation, you're checking in later, and your "friend" whose name the reservation's in hasn't showed yet)
3) $10-20 in hand, "I'd like to check my bag." offer no explanation.
I've done #1 in vegas, #2 in chicago, and #3 in orlando. it's a crapshoot, but I'd be really surprised if you tried more than one hotel and got denied.
posted by mercredi at 9:13 PM on May 18, 2010
this trick works best at more upscale/service oriented hotels (you can scope them out on expedia/tripadvisor) be polite, but act like you expect them to say yes.
posted by mercredi at 9:16 PM on May 18, 2010
posted by mercredi at 9:16 PM on May 18, 2010
The old-school New York way to do it is for your hosts to leave a set of keys with a trusted neighborhood store, lunch counter, etc. which you can retrieve by telling the person at the counter "I'm here to pick up the keys [Host] left for me. And usually tip them a few dollars.
posted by Jon_Evil at 9:19 PM on May 18, 2010
posted by Jon_Evil at 9:19 PM on May 18, 2010
A friend has done the "check your bag at a nicer hotel" thing successfully at the Hilton on 53rd and 6th, but this was a few years ago.
posted by kathryn at 1:08 PM on May 19, 2010
posted by kathryn at 1:08 PM on May 19, 2010
Brooklyn is a very large place which could mean you stash your luggage somewhere that's really inconvenient to pick it up later. Where are you meeting people at 8:30 (what neighborhood)?
It will be easier to search for solutions with that information.
posted by jasbet07 at 8:30 AM on May 20, 2010
It will be easier to search for solutions with that information.
posted by jasbet07 at 8:30 AM on May 20, 2010
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posted by Juicy Avenger at 5:53 PM on May 18, 2010