Cheap, public transit reachable parking in the outskirts of NYC. Is there such a thing?

September 17, 2012 2:42 PM

I live in New York City. I own a car that I only need to use 2-3 times a month. Are there any low(er)-cost parking alternatives if you don't need constant access to the car? The ideal parking situation for me would be a garage with 24-hour access that would be reachable by public transit. Something way out there in Queens, Brooklyn or even Westchester. Is there such a thing?
posted by gertzedek to Travel & Transportation (11 answers total)

Agree with young rope-rider & b1tr0t that you should consider NJ. It may also lower your insurance costs depending on your driving record. My friend parks hers in Harrison, NJ and has done so for about 5 years or so.

Side note: if you only need it 2-3x a month, what about ZipCar? Is it worth the costs of keeping the car (storage, insurance, registration, gas, inspection, etc.) for such infrequent use? I kept my car for 4 years after my move to NYC (it was parked at my mom's in Rockland) and when it came time for it to pass inspection this year, I decided it was costing me more than the benefit I was getting out of it.
posted by TravellingCari at 3:18 PM on September 17, 2012 [7 favorites]

Second ZipCar.
posted by Jurbano at 3:19 PM on September 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

Hertz also has a new Hertz on Demand service in several areas including New York City that you can join for free (unlike Zipcar) and use to make select one-way trips without extra charge. I haven't tried it yet.
posted by grouse at 3:24 PM on September 17, 2012

Response by poster: Zipcar doesn't work for me. I like to travel upstate with the car and occasionally I need it for several days.
posted by gertzedek at 4:50 PM on September 17, 2012

There are places in LIC, right off the E & M trains that do not have alternate sides. Just saying. (I can't tell you more or all the folks who already park there will kill me.)
posted by Pineapplicious at 5:10 PM on September 17, 2012

Where do you go upstate? If you go to the same area every time could you just leave the car there and take a train or bus to it?
posted by mareli at 5:21 PM on September 17, 2012

Big gub'mint has a map of all the parking signs in the city for you. It does look like, in fact, there are many curbsides in LIC distinctly lacking parking regulations. It looks like there's more of the same in parts of the Williamsburg waterfront as well.
posted by akgerber at 6:23 PM on September 17, 2012

Zipcar does do longer term rentals at lesser fees. But even so, does Zipcar + the occaisonal traditional rental (e.g. Hertz) make sense financially?
posted by stevis23 at 8:58 PM on September 17, 2012

I have seen posted here before that there is apparently some mall in Jersey one can take a bus to to rent cars at the non-NYC rate of ~$30/night or less. The same is true of 30th St. Station in Philly, if you're headed in that direction.
posted by akgerber at 9:27 PM on September 17, 2012

akgerber: "I have seen posted here before that there is apparently some mall in Jersey one can take a bus to to rent cars at the non-NYC rate of ~$30/night or less."

Heh, I think that might have been me. It's the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, NJ. Avis is the rental place. And the bus is the 193/194/197 from Port Authority.
posted by Grither at 5:44 AM on September 18, 2012 [2 favorites]

NYC rates are much more expensive but they include basic liability insurance that rental companies otherwise charge at about $30 per day. If you don't have rental liability insurance through your own car insurance or non-owner's insurance, NY rental rates are competitive to NJ.

Unless you own outright a reliable low-maintenance vehicle with reasonable insurance rates, it is possible to highly probable that you will do better overall with occasional renting (or Zipcar/rental combination) than with car payments+car maintenance+insurance+registration+parking costs.
posted by Salamandrous at 6:22 PM on September 25, 2012