Where to stay and Parking in New York

We are driving from Connecticutt to New York and have never been to NYC. We want to take one of the day tours and I am worried about driving and parking in NYC. Do all the hotels have parking and are there plenty of parking garages around? We aren%26#39;t sure yet if we will drive in from nearby, find parking and do a tour or if we will be staying close by and taking a cab, bus etc. to the tour pick up spot. The one we are interested in leaves from Times Square area.

I am clueless about getting around New York and want to do what is easiest without getting caught up in traffic.

Any help would be appreciated. I assume the hotels all have parking lots or garages???

Where to stay and Parking in New York

There are any number of garages or parking lots in the Times Square area where the cost of parking is $15 or less if you park the car before 10 AM and leave the garage or lot before 7PM. There is one on Broadway in the 50%26#39;s and there is one on W. 45th just off the corner of Broadway. There are others on 8th Avenue between 45th and 53rd Streets.

There is a park and lock on W. 42nd St. between 8th Avenue and 9th Ave., north side of the street.

Where to stay and Parking in New York

There are very, very few parking lots anywhere in Manhattan. Garages are more common than parking lots.

Most hotels in Manhattan do not have their own parking facilities of any kind. Instead, if they have parking, it is usually through an arrangement with a nearby garage.

Almost no restaurants in Manhattan have their own parking facilities of any kind.

Almost no stores in Manhattan have parking facilities of any kind.

Three-quarters of the households in Manhattan, and two-thirds of the households in Brooklyn, do not have cars, so this lack of parking is not really a major issue for most New Yorkers.

For those people who do bring cars into town, though, there are both private and municipal parking facilities. You should have an idea of which one you plan on using, and you should know where it is -- I do not recommend wadering around looking for a parking garage, as you could waste a fair amount of time and effort doing that.

The best way to get aroung town here is by walking combined with mass tranist -- subway first, then bus. After that, your next best option is to hail a cab.

I think it would help us to help you if you explained where in Ct. you%26#39;ll be and what options you%26#39;re considering. Depending on where in Ct. you are and whether you%26#39;re talking about a day trip(s) or something else, there is good train service between many areas and Ct. that would allow you to leave the car in Ct. (or return it before going to Manhattan?)

If that%26#39;s not an option, iconparking.com is one solution. This co. has garages all over the city and you can get an idea of what the cost would be by visiting their website.

As already said, many hotels either have garage in the building or more likely an agreement with a nearby garage, but you%26#39;ll pay top dollar to park that way.

I have read all the replies and I think we have decided to stay just outside of New York City, drive in on a Sunday morning, take the tour and leave at the end of the day. I am assuming parking and traffic would be much better on a Sunday than a weekday. Am I correct in this assumption?

We will be staying somewhere between New Haven, CT and New York. I haven%26#39;t booked a hotel yet.

I did check on parking garages around Times Square and will decide on one so we can drive right to it when we come into town.

We added New York City as we are going to be so close anyway and thought even a tour would give us an idea of what the city is like.

Now to decide on a tour!

Thank you for your replies and if you have any additional information I could use, please post.

Well, it%26#39;s my opinion that you might find your commuting options from CT MORE limited at the same time you find LESS traffic in New York.

On a Sunday I would just drive on in... I would also go to www.iconparking.com, find a close garage at a good price to where you want to go, print out the info, and just go to it...if you happen to see a better deal along the way (some kind of ';weekend special';) just take it, otherwise I%26#39;d know where I was going and have the convenience of my own car right there. You can then decide whether you want to drive back out to CT and the hotel, or just get a hotel in the city at a weekend rate - why not make a day of it and have a nice dinner, too?

make sure you check the traffic reports on Sunday when driving in.

http://www.metrocommute.com/

The most popular radio station for traffic reports is 1010WINS (1010 on AM). traffic every 10 minutes. Also check WCBS880 (880 AM) for reports

1010wins.com/topic/traffic.php?trafficText=1

http://wcbs880.com/pages/2170.php

Live traffic maps:

http://1010wins.com/topic/traffic.php

Connecticut traffic cameras

http://www.ct.gov/dot/cwp/view.asp?a=2354%26amp;Q=290520%26amp;dotNav=|

I would suggest you NOT stay outside NYC. If you%26#39;ve never been, drive to NYC on Sunday and stay at least overnight. The Travel Inn is not far from Times Square and has free parking. 2 tours you should consider are Marvelous Manhattan and NY Party Shuttle. Both are in air conditioned buses and take you all around Manhattan. Here are the websites

kingofnyc.com

nypartyshuttle.com

You should also consider seeing a show if you can. Most Broadway shows have Sunday matinee performances at 3 pm and a few have 2 shows on Sun. a matinee at 1 and an evening perf. at 7. Maybe spend Sunday just walking around, see Central Park and go to a show and then do the tour on Monday.

After reading all the responses we decided to change our trip around and fly into New York City, drive to the Times Square area to catch the tour of New York City and then drive out that evening as we will be heading to Cooperstown the next day. My husband feels if we know right where a parking garage is then we can drive to it and park the car. It appears the airport is very close to where we want to be. It will be a Saturday that we will be flying in. We plan to go onto to Vermont and Massachusetts and Rhode Island and then back to New York to fly out.

Will we have trouble finding a spot in a parking garage on Saturday?

Sorry for all the questions but having never been in New York we aren%26#39;t sure what to expect. We have flown into Boston several times and found a lot of traffic there as well but managed to get around without any trouble. I guess I am nervous after hearing how back it is to drive and find parking in New York City so we want to be prepared.

Thanks again for all the helpful responses! Any other suggestions that might help would be appreciated.

Driving into and parking in NYC won%26#39;t be much of a problem on a Saturday. There are garages on almost every block in midtown (you will find the entrances on the Streets, not the Avenues--in other words, go east/west along 43rd Street and you%26#39;ll pass more than you need. Go north/south along 7th Avenue and you%26#39;ll wonder where all the parking garages are). Within a given area, they will all charge about the same price. You will probably pay somewhere between $20-$40 to park for the day, depending on what time you park--early is better on Saturday. You%26#39;ll pay top dollar to park during Broadway show times. It%26#39;s all supply-and-demand. Every time you move your car you will pay again, so park it and walk. Enjoy your time in NYC. Sorry in advance about the humidity!

Hi stitcher,

We just returned from our first trip to NYC and we drove in from Ohio. From this forum I learned about Iconparking.com which was a godsend. You can pick a garage on the site and get a confimation for that garage on the specific day that you need. Just print out the confirmation and present it at the garage when you arrive.

Have a great time!