Hi all,

Am visiting New York City for a weekend in a few weeks and am looking for some advice.

Firstly I want to arrange to meet a friend who lives in Vermont. She was suggesting she get the train down but the Vermonter is once per day, at an inconvenient time and really slow. So I suggested she could drive down. NYC traffic is legendary of course so I was thinking she could park at one of the airports and I'll meet her there. Is this a good idea or am I out of my mind? Anyone have any better suggestions for where to park without spending forever in traffic/getting lost to get there?

Secondly, the perennial cheap hotel question - well I have the web so I can find stuff, but looking just for recommendations on what the best areas are to stay. I'm mostly interested in somewhere with good restaurants and maybe some decent bars, but not too bothered about raving all night! Any particular hotel recommendations would be welcome.

Lastly (for now) is there anything unmissable going on 7-11 May?

Cheers
Martin

 

Oh ya, you can't miss Light Fair International..

I'll be down there the same time, but sadly working most of the time.. I hate trade shows

 

Thanks for the heads-up but maybe I'll give that a miss. Tight schedule and all that. But if you fancy a few beers one of the weekday evenings let me know.

 

Potfish,

First, I would suggest your friend try JetBlue (www.jetblueairways.com) from Burlington, VT to JFK. The flight is only US$130.00, which I'm sure is less than the Amtrak Vermonteer. She could take a cab from JFK to New York City (US$45.00) on Friday and you could share a cab back to JFK on Sunday afternoon for your return flights. It would save her significant time in the car.

If she must drive, I would suggest she park her car in Westchester County or Connecticut (areas above Manhattan) and take the Metro-North commuter rail into Manhattan. These trains run quite frequently, both on Friday and Sunday, and she would avoid having to drive through Manhattan to reach JFK or parking in Manhattan. It would also take 1 hour off her drive.

http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/mnr/ - MetroNorth home page
http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/mnr/html/mnrmap.htm

 

I don't live in NY but I can share some of my experience from the past visits.

I would suggest booking a hotel first, make sure they have some discount parking available within walking distance from the hotel. Your friend can drive right to the hotel and park the car for a day or two. It cost me $20 for 24 hours of parking on my last trip 2 weeks ago. We drove from Springfield, MA, which is probably the same route your friend will be driving. We did not have much trouble with trafic, except for due to some road construction in the CT area, just drove straight to the hotel in Manhattan. I understand traffic is a big problem during week days but otherwise I have found it to be no problem, unless I've just been lucky?

As for cheap Hotels in the Manhattan area, there are many available for around $80 at this time. Just pick the one close to a Subway station and parking, free breakfast is even better

I have found its best to go with someone who knows the city, saves a lot of time.

Good luck!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by RUGBY
[B]If she must drive, I would suggest she park her car in Westchester County or Connecticut (areas above Manhattan) and take the Metro-North commuter rail into Manhattan.

 

Potfish,

I used to take the JetBlue flight from Burlington to JFK all the time when I went to school upstate. the flight is 45 minutes long, but it only comes in 2x a day...around 9am and around 6pm. Its a pleasure tho. As for meeting up with ure friend, where exactly are you staying? queens? cuz then u can meet somewhere out here in queens so the cab can be cheaper.

 

She's in Brattleboro so Burlington flights aren't too useful but thanks for the idea. The current plan is for her to drive to New Haven CT and take the Metro-North; I'll meet her at Grand Central Station as I'll already have arrived in the city the day before. Not sure where we're staying yet, that's my job for this week once I get the notebook PC sorted out - priorities!

Cheers
Martin

 

The New Haven Metro North idea is a good one. The train runs about every 30 min, and the round trip is around $23. But be adviced the trains are not as clean or nice as the Amtrak but it's only a 1:30 min ride. And you can get around NYC the best way to you, either walking, taxi or subway if you know it. One place I recommend is the Belvedere Hotel at 319 West 48th Street. Walking distance to Time Square and the rooms are big, clean, and cozy. They start at about $135 a night. I have stayed at a few hotels, but for me this is my new favorite hotel to stay at.

 

Just stay anywhere in Manhattan (below about 100th Street, which is pretty much everywhere). The web sites hotels.com and expedia.com have plenty of good deals. I'm pretty sure that none of the hotels on that site will be real dogs. Some may be nicer that others, but you won't get any fleabags, and you'll find a bunch for a pretty cheap price.