brooklyn to newark

December 21, 2005 8:22 AM

park slope brooklyn to newark airport by car service. how long should i give myself, given the transit strike

flight is at 4:30 pm. what time should i leave for the airport?

posted by alkupe to Travel & Transportation around New York, NY (14 answers total)

Well, the driver should go across the Verrazano bridge and Staten Island to New Jeresy. This is not a normal commuter route, so it won't be as bad as if you went across Manhattan.

I would leave at 1:30 PM, which gives the driver an hour to get to Newark ad gets you to the airport 2 hours before the flight, which is enough buffer time to allow for bad traffic on the Staten Island Expressway and I-95.
posted by camworld at 8:28 AM on December 21, 2005

I'm not going to venture a specific guess as to time, but I recommend you tell him to either go through Staten Island (Verrazano/Goethals bridges) or, if going through Manhattan, take the Battery Tunnel. Worth paying the toll.
posted by staggernation at 8:30 AM on December 21, 2005

1:30 sounds about right to me, too. If you're using Arecibo or 7th Avenue Car Service (and maybe others), you can usually call and ask them what time they think you should leave, given the conditions. Since they do airport runs all the time, they'll have a general idea, but they do underestimate sometimes. If you want to be safe, you can tell them the flight is at 3:30.
posted by cacophony at 8:32 AM on December 21, 2005

This is not a normal commuter route, so it won't be as bad as if you went across Manhattan.

Which is not to say that it will be fast. The only time I've ever gotten through Staten Island quickly is at 5am on a weekend. I don't know how traffic patterns have shifted with the strike (there are likely more people coming/going from NJ by this route instead of through Manhattan), but it should indeed be less of a hassle than going through Manhattan.
posted by Godbert at 8:41 AM on December 21, 2005

Drove to work in Hoboken from Park Slope this morning by going over the Verazzano and then the Bayonne bridge to 404 (Newark/Jersey City). No traffic whatsoever. I would not go through Manhattan at all as reports from friends who tried the Battery Tunnel and the Manhattan Bridge sounded like Custer pleading for reinforcements. If typical traffic patterns hold, if you leave at 1:30 you should get there by 2:15-2:30 no problem. If you are a risk taker, leave at 2:30. If you prefer to tolerate the airport boredom but know that you have plenty of cushion in case something goes awry, leave at 1:30. I don't think you will have too much of a problem from what I saw this morning.
posted by spicynuts at 8:51 AM on December 21, 2005

This is not a normal commuter route, so it won't be as bad as if you went across Manhattan.

Which is not to say that it will be fast.

At the moment it's probably the only way you can go, unless you're going to have 4 people in the car.
posted by o2b at 9:03 AM on December 21, 2005

unless you're going to have 4 people in the car

Pretty sure that's only in force until 11 am. Still better to go through SI, though.
posted by staggernation at 9:18 AM on December 21, 2005

I don't live in New York, so can't offer specific advice, but I always ask the car service to tell me how long something's going to take. They'll have a lot more experience and data points (from multiple cars) to assess what traffic is like, both on regular days and on days where it's messed up like strikes. Have you asked them what time they think they should allow?
posted by jacquilynne at 9:33 AM on December 21, 2005

I drove from central jersey to brooklyn yesterday during the day (around 1pm) and encountered no traffic at all on the Verrazano/Goethals bridges and the connecting highways (278/turnpike). Check here before you go to get an updated picture of the traffic, but my guess is it shouldn't be a problem.
posted by blueyellow at 10:12 AM on December 21, 2005

I'm doing this, too. Thanks for the info. (I like Continental--I memorized their number when my wife was pregnant.)
posted by rikschell at 10:19 AM on December 21, 2005

i make the park slope/central new jersey trip via satan island all the time. typically takes 50 minutes. have a great trip!
posted by armacy at 11:22 AM on December 21, 2005

um, the NJT from penn station is still running to newark... I would skip the taxi all the way and just get one to penn station. the train from penn station to the airport, including the switch to the shuttle, takes no more than 30-45, which is definitely less time than a taxi going over the verrazano AND the goethals.
posted by yonation at 4:19 PM on December 21, 2005

um, the NJT from penn station is still running to newark... I would skip the taxi all the way and just get one to penn station. the train from penn station to the airport, including the switch to the shuttle, takes no more than 30-45, which is definitely less time than a taxi going over the verrazano AND the goethals.

Except that it'll take you a good hour (at least) to get up to Penn Station given the traffic from the strike. Don't go into Manhattan if you can at all help it until the strike is over. Seriously.
posted by ch1x0r at 7:14 PM on December 21, 2005

I went from Boerum Hill to Newark Airport in about 75 minutes yesterday morning.

I was traveling lightly (because of the strike) but found it really easy to hitch a ride across the Brooklyn Bridge. The Path train (at WTC) is only about three blocks away. From there, it's 22 minutes or so to Newark Penn Station and then a transfer and one stop to Newark Airport. It was, quite literally, the easiest commute I've ever had to Newark. I was considering driving, but didn't know what to expect from the southern route.

I'd avoid Penn Station (my usual method), simply because it seems like utter, hellish confusion right now.
posted by dorisdanglehoff at 9:08 AM on December 22, 2005