BrightontoBoston

Hi, I posed the same question in another thread, but fear it has been swamped.... oh well!

Can someone suggest some areas to park on outskirts of NYC, I will drive south on the I87, and looking for somewhere we can just get on a train, and head on to downtown, or am I dreaming that any such place would exist?

Saw this on the guardian.co.uk website also this week....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/200...elfoodanddrink
which may or may not provide some eating suggestions while in the city.
Also this on CNN a few weeks ago:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/getaw....ap/index.html
with a selection of great buildings to see in NYC!

Thanks

neil

Not sure about from that direction, but if I'm going in I park in downtown Jersey City near the Grove Street PATH station (PATH goes either to WTC, or various stops up to 33rd St.); a fair amount of free on street parking around there on the weekend, although it's getting busier because of all the development.

dinosaur

Southeast (off of I-84) is great at the weekend, as parking is free, but maybe it's too far north? Very convenient for I-84 though.

Also have used Stamford - it has lots of (weekend) parking (but that you have to pay for), and fast trains.

But depends how/where you're coming from...neither of these are useful if you're using I-87

Englishmum

Are you just going to NY for the day or staying overnight or longer? (If longer you could park in NJ at an hotel - some charge, others don't - and take the PATH trains in....if you need ideas for hotels I can let you know).

I'm lucky in that I can walk from home to the local station with trains direct to Penn Station, but from time to time if I'm going to be in the city late at night and don't want to risk missing the last midtown direct train, I park right next to the PATH station in Hoboken at 1 Washington St (Central Parking). They do valet parking and you tell them roughly how long you think you will be in the city. I generally pay about $18 from 5pm until the wee small hours, but the carpark is open 24/7 and is safe. The trains run all night from NYC to Hoboken.

http://www.panynj.com/CommutingTrave...rkingGuide.pdf

If coming down the I-87, you could take the I-287 and take the Springfield exit (Rt 24) towards Newark airport. This joins the I-78 which you take for about 8 miles and can choose to stay on the I-78 extension to Jersey City (Holland Tunnel exit, but don't go in the tunnel, continue to Hoboken) or take the Pulaski Skyway (Rt 9 North, I think) into Hoboken. The Central Parking carpark is at the entrance to Hoboken and steps from the PATH trains.

If you really want to drive into Manhatten......

http://gonyc.about.com/od/drivinginn..._York_City.htm

http://www.nyctourist.com/newyorkcit...ty-parking.htm

Ray

North Carolina

lapin_windstar

If you're coming on the weekend and you want to dump it at a train station in your direction, you could do worse than leave it at Tarrytown station: there's a big parking lot, it's just across the Tappan Zee bridge, and the trains run regular. Check this out: http://as0.mta.info/mnr/stations/sta...ail.cfm?key=30 The MTA website tells you what parking is available at each station, and how much it costs (often it's free on weekends).

Do you have a GPS or are you good with a map? Because if so, on the weekend you can park free easily at/near this location opposite Manhattan in Queens: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...,0.014591&z=16 It's a 3 minute hop on the 7 train into Grand Central Terminal, and a $10 cab ride back. Obviously, don't drive through Manhattan to get there! Somewhere in the Bronx might also be convenient, but I can't think of anywhere specific offhand.

Having said all that, if you look at the price of return train tickets to anywhere, and for the sake of convenience, if you can get a space in a city "parking field" like this right in the city, it's a similar price: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/mot...manpk-02.shtml And once you park it, it's secure (not that NYC is worse than anywhere else for car crime), you don't have to touch it while you're there, and when you want to leave, it's right there: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/mot...manpk-02.shtml You might want to check there's not a crazy 24 hour maximum or anything though.

You would be able to find free non-meter street parking on Manhattan if you cruise around for long enough looking for a space, though (don't bother trying downtown or midtown, though - the 60s up on the far west or far east side would be the beginning point of your quest).

I think I may have overthought this...post/PM more if you need other suggestions.

kins

I was just reading this page
http://wikitravel.org/en/New_York_City

and it has some bits that might help...

Commuter Rail

New York City is served by three commuter railroads.

* Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) [11] operates from New York Penn Station with service to points in Long Island with stops at Jamaica Station, Long Island City, Hunters Point, and others in Queens and Atlantic Avenue station in Brooklyn. The main LIRR lines include services to Port Jefferson, Montauk, Oyster Bay, Port Washington, and Greenport; with a number of branch lines to other points on Long Island.

* Metro-North Rail Road (Metro North) [12] operates from Grand Central Terminal to points north and east of the city (Westchester, Putnam, Duchess Counties in New York, and points in the state of Connecticut). The New Haven line serves cities along the coast with a branch line to Danbury. The Hudson Line serves points along the Hudson River to Poughkeepsie. The Harlem Line serves Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess Counties to Pawling and Wassaic. Trains also stop at the Harlem station on 125th street and Park Avenue in Manhattan. At New Haven, passengers may transfer to Amtrak or to the Shore Line East providing local service between New Haven and New London, Connecticut.

* New Jersey Transit [13] operates from New York Penn Station to points in New Jersey. The Northeast corridor line goes to Princeton and Trenton. Services are also available for points along the Jersey Coast and along the Hudson River to points north of the city. Connecting service is available from Trenton to Philadelphia via SEPTA or to Camden (New Jersey) via RiverLINE. Connecting service to Newark Liberty International Airport is available from some Northeast corridor trains.

If you are thinking of coming to New York by car, you may want to consider that traffic in Manhattan is very bad, and parking is quite expensive (up to $40 per day) and extremely difficult to come by. Parking tickets if you park illegally can be $150; if towed $300. When entering New York from New Jersey, as well as with many bridges and tunnels within New York City, you will incur tolls (up to $6) [15] and associated traffic delays. Most New Yorkers don't even own cars, and driving from one attraction to another in Manhattan is all but unheard of. Driving to one of the stations served by the Metro North railroad, New Jersey Transit, or Long Island Railroad (see above) and taking the train in is a better option. There are often secure parking areas in some of these stations.

As a general rule, hotels in New York do not supply parking. The few that do will charge you handsomely for the privilege. It is suggested that you look at the following three websites:

http://www.BestParking.com (formerly http://www.NYCGarages.com) is a free service that allows users to search and compare all daily and monthly rates and locations for parking facilities in Manhattan, NYC. Users can book free parking "Reservations" and "Rate Guarantees" at over 20% of parking garages (including Icon Parking Systems and Edison ParkFast). The website's instant rate comparison clearly displays the rates on a Google map and the interface is extremely user-friendly. Regular rates, early bird specials, weekend specials, night Specials, SUV/oversize/luxury vehicle rates, motorcycle rates, and all additional posted charges are included in their instant rate comparison. Cheap parking can be found in all areas of Manhattan and parking in New York City doesn't have to be expensive.

At http://www.iconparking.com/ you can book your parking time (if you know it) by the block, date, time, and even choose which garage within the iconparking system has space and they MUST honor it. One traveler says, "I've gone into garages that have initially said they're full up and then I said I booked it online and they shrugged and honored it." A hint, when you book online with this company take the printout with you. Most times the attendants/valets will assume you know what you're talking about, but sometimes they want to see the printout. Also, when you pay, they may feign ignorance as to the price you were quoted online. This is another reason to print out the reservation. Utilizing this service, it is possible to pay $10 on a weekday for 8 hours of parking on John Street in the Financial district showing up at 10am and leaving at 6pm. If initially the valet says they don't have to honor that rate, be persistent and you should get it.

The third site is http://www.parkfast.com. This site is for Edison Parkfast. The site isn't as feature-rich and you can't pick your hours or dates, but at least they have some basic rates and locations.

Ridski

I would second parking in Tarrytown or Irvington train stations, along the I87 and Metro-North lines, which will take you straight into Grand Central. But, yes, it all depends on how long you're staying, as some towns (such as mine in NJ) do not allow overnight parking anywhere on their streets, so you could get ticketed if you leave it there overnight.

tonrob

Just drive straight in - much more convenient.

http://www.iconparking.com/

We stayed in Times Square a couple of times yet still paid less than $20 a day for parking just by being prepared to walk 10 blocks with our roller case. Couldn't have been easier and no mucking around with trains to boot.

Rete

There are any number of places. If you take I-87 (NYS Thruway) you can get off at Hall Place/Yonkers. There is a light at the exit. Continue down to the next light (McLean Avenue). Make a left and follow for about 10 blocks. You will see a restaurant bar called "River's Edge" on the corner of McLean and Bronx River Road/Webster Avenue (McLean divides Yonkers from the Bronx). At that intersection make a right. Just before the light find a parking space on the street. It is a very safe neighbor no worries. The train station (Woodlawn/Harlem Line) is right there on the left. There might be parking in the station for non-pass holders and that would be on the left in the parking lot. But usually all the spots are taken early in the morning. Buy your tickets for the train at the automated ticket machine on the platform. There is a $7 surcharge per ticket if you buy it on the train.

PS No charge for parking on the weekends anywhere in the lot.

PPS If you want a scenic train ride definitely take the Hudson Line. You will NOT find parking at Tarrytown, Ossining, Yonkers, Hastings, Irvington during the weekday. The train lots are by permit and the open meters are filled by 8 a.m.

Patrick Hasler

Drive down I-87 across the Tappan Zee Bridge and take the first exit after the toll for Tarrytown, head for the train station and catch a train to Grand Central .... easy peasy

Half moon ? .... you live extreemely close to me

Tarkak9

You might want to keep an eye on this space,
for whenever it opens up - grab it fast!!