Driving and Parking to/near NYC?

March 30, 2018 7:32 AM

I'm going to New York City from Boston for a quick overnight next weekend. Arriving Saturday, leaving Sunday. Amtrak doesn't really work for our schedule so I'm thinking I might drive but of course I don't want to drive or park in the city. What are my park and ride options?

I don't care about the amount of time I'm on the road as long as I'm not stuck in traffic.

Ideally I'd like to drive most of the way, park my car somewhere safe that won't be full up Saturday afternoon, and then take a quick cab, train or (preferably) subway ride into midtown, where we'll be staying.

Cost of parking isn't a huge concern, as long as it's not, like, crazy or anything.

We were thinking of driving to Stamford and then taking the MTA into the city. Is there a better option?

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

Best answer: Park in the city. It's perfectly safe. I've done this a few times where I've parked in the lot next to my microhotel in the West Village, and it costs about the same as it would a train ticket. It'll probably cost more near midtown, but you could park away from there and still take the train in.

If you're a Boston driver like me, then my God it's easier to drive in NYC than Boston. All the streets are numbered and in a grid.
posted by Melismata at 7:40 AM on March 30, 2018 [4 favorites]

New Haven is a pretty good option, and lets you avoid the worst of I-95. And there's the Bolt (?) bus.
posted by Dashy at 7:42 AM on March 30, 2018

Best answer: I've done the Stamford route and the New Haven one and found both totally AOK. New Haven is a great place to get a meal, also, on the way back. Easy parking and a quick trip in. I usually take Amtrak from Providence.

Park in the city. It's perfectly safe.

If bondcliff's concerns are at all like mine, it's not the safety it's the total bullshit of driving in the city.
posted by jessamyn at 7:43 AM on March 30, 2018 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Just because I forgot to mention it in my question, my main issues are flexibility and reliability. We'll need to get home after a Sunday matinee show and would rather not wait too long for a train or bus, and would rather not have an issue where a train or bus is delayed very long.
posted by bondcliff at 7:45 AM on March 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I'm not sure what too long means for you but the Metro North New Haven line (which is also the line you'd take to Stamford) departs Grand Central roughly every half hour on Sunday afternoons (schedule search). In my experience Metro North schedules are quite accurate except during major snowstorms.
posted by enn at 7:55 AM on March 30, 2018

Stamford is an hour from grand central (50 mins to 110 depending on how many stops your train makes) and new haven is 2. Either would be fine.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 8:02 AM on March 30, 2018

Coming in from Rhode Island, if the hotel doesn't offer parking, I've always taken a train in from, well, White Plains actually, but that's only out of habit, because I picked up friends from SUNY Purchase for years. New Haven or Stamford are the more normal places. I've never had a problem, and we were always on the late end of coming home.
posted by Ruki at 8:04 AM on March 30, 2018

To find cheaper parking: SpotHero, Parking Panda
posted by exogenous at 8:11 AM on March 30, 2018

New Haven is a good option.
posted by praemunire at 8:23 AM on March 30, 2018

Best answer: Given your stated goals, I would have to also say just drive into the city and park there. Driving in Boston is way more hellish than driving in Manhattan. Especially if you just park somewhere on the UES or UWS and take the train into midtown. (Or walk, depending.)

If you haven’t driven in Manhattan much, it’s...definitely less bullshitty than Boston. And it’s not like you’ll be trying to navigate Canal street during rush hour or anything.
posted by schadenfrau at 8:37 AM on March 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

I would drive to a Metro North stop further toward the city such as White Plains or North White. There is plenty of parking and it will be free after 6pm on Saturday. White Plains is easy off of 287 if you are coming down 95 or even the Merritt or 84 to 684 to 287. Get the Train Time app for Metro North and it will pop up the schedule. Can also buy tickets using the MTA's etix app.
posted by AugustWest at 8:55 AM on March 30, 2018

Best answer: Nthing the Metro Rail from New Haven... IIRC trains run every 40 minutes or so, even on weekends. I've never had a noticable delay on the way in or out of the city. Plus... Grand Central Station.
posted by Funeral march of an old jawbone at 2:06 PM on March 30, 2018

Best answer: I live in Stamford. We use the Harbor Point Gateway Garage when we Amtrak out of town. It has a walkway to the train station.

Catching the subway at a northern point, say Pelham, is technically possible but so awful basically no one considers it except in time of some sort of transportation crisis.
posted by SemiSalt at 10:14 AM on April 1, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: We ended up just driving because it was the quickest option. 3 1/2 hours door-to-door, the price for (hotel discounted) parking for two days was comparable to two MTA tickets, and certainly cheaper than two Amtrak tickets.

I think if we were to stay more than one night we'd do the MTA, as then parking would start to really add up.

Driving was mostly easy, other than the narrow lanes on the FDR.
posted by bondcliff at 1:06 PM on April 9, 2018 [1 favorite]