Z in New York City?
 

So I am going to drive up to NYC with my girlfriend this Friday. We're going to spend the weekend in the city (staying in Manhattan) and we're trying to figure out which car to take.

The car is going to be valet parked. Where... I don't know. I pull up to the hotel and they take the car. I do know its expensive as hell, though! Options are the Z or her Benz (CLK 500). I kind of want to take the Z but not sure how it would fare.

Thoughts and tips for visiting NYC? This will be the first time I've actually driven into the city.

I wouldn't risk it If I was you. Might as well just take the CLK.

Ditto

take the CLK. too hard to see out of the Z in NYC traffic

CLK.. Plus I dont trust NYC valet parkers with a 6mt

Pretty sure we are going to take the Mercedes. We can fit more stuff in it anyways, although the Z gets better gas mileage!

Have you seen the stories of what valets do to guests cars! I would never trust them with my new car, if a older non sporty car then by all means.
:stirthepot:

Traffic is SO bad in NY. The drivers will cut you off left and right. I WOULDN'T take my Z to Manhattan. I'll take it to other parts of the NY, but brooklyn, queens or Manhattan - no no! Also, I can never sleep giving my car keys to valet. Things that they do to cars :shakes head:

I wanna say take the Z, but if ur gonna hangout mostly n Manhattan don't do it. If I have 2 parallel park in the city or park n a lot I don't drive my Z I drive my Benz. The only time I drive my Z 2 Manhattan is if I'm going 2 b near my car the whole time and I don't hafta worry about some idiot scraping my bumpers. The Z would be a lot of fun on the road trip but once u get 2 the city parking is gonna be a hassle.

For a visitor, a car is a liability in NYC, not a convenience. Parking around high traffic areas that you want to be is either nonexistent or incredibly expensive. So, you end up leaving it parked in the $30/day hotel lot and taking cabs/subway anyway. If you do venture out, you quickly realize why NYC has considered making cars coming into Manhattan prohibitively expensive for the uninitiated. There's too much traffic on the island.

You crawl along everywhere on the surface streets if you don't know alternate routes. The direct a-b way to your destination can take twice as long as backtracking 10 blocks and going around a back way. Typically, visitors think cabbies are trying to rip them off by doing this, when they are actually doing them a favor.

I wouldn't want to try to cross a couple of lanes of 5th Avenue traffic in Midtown with the rearward veiw out of a Z, or navigate narrow streets of the Village, SoHo or TriBeCa. Above the 60s and around the park, you'd probably be alright, but there's not as much to see up there that isn't better traveled by foot anyway (museums, park and shopping) so you'd probably want to just park and, well, that's also the prime residential area so good luck finding anything.

You might get lucky finding plentiful spaces to park above 110th street, in which case I'd highly recommend taking the Benz.

Seriously, since you ask, take the train and enjoy the city without a car. New York is one of the few places in America where no car is actually preferable, in my opinion.

Thanks for the tips.

We are only going to be driving into the city on Friday and driving out on Sunday. The hotel is going to take care of the car at a pretty ridiculous daily rate and we will take a cab or the subway everywhere else.

I've driven my old Yukon into NYC thousands of times. (We live only 70 miles away). The Z will never drive into New York, not even "in transit" through to the boroughs or Long Island.

Weekends, starting with Friday night, are even worse than weekdays. Friday nights are when the "bridge and tunnel crowd" come in to do the nightclubs. (B&T is a derogatory term meaning people who can't or won't live in the City proper ... usually because they can't afford $3K+ for a Manhattan studio apartment as big as your Z.) But Sundays are just as bad, because everyone has to go back to their starting positions for the Monday morning rat race.

And Sundays in-bound are especially bad for traffic coming up from the Jersey Shore. Think of a 140 mile-long traffic jam. I got caught in this last weekend and it took me 2 1/2 hours to drive 65 miles. (If I hadn't had the 7AT, I think I would have parked the car for 6 hours.)

Your best bet is taking Amtrak from Washington, Philadelphia, or one of the stops nearer to NY like Iselin (Metropark). Don't go as far as Newark. Amtrak will get you in to 32nd Street and 8th Ave., which is walk-able to many hotels (or a good place to get your first taxi).

Do you have any idea on when the best time to hit NYC would be? Check in is after 3PM.

I'm pretty sure we're driving. Don't want to spend the money on a train ticket and we might swing by Philadelphia.

I would say as close to 3PM as possible. I'm guessing you're coming from the south. If so, I would say take the Holland Tunnel and work your way up the island to your hotel, which I'm guessing is in Midtown. The Lincoln can be brutal traffic-wise, both when you're approaching it in NJ and trying to get out in Manhattan. Good luck.:icon14:

As early as possible! Every hotel has early check-in ... if the room's not ready, your luggage will be left with the valet until it is. You can get there at noon, drop the car, eat lunch and sight-see.

Phila is a day trip by itself. (It has a small but good Chinatown, for instance.)

BTW -- tolls and parking cost more than a RT ticket from Amtrak at Iselin NJ, to say nothing of the risk of something happening in NYC to one of your good cars. Parking tickets start at $70-150, and once a car has a ticket it can be towed at any time, for an extra $250 towing charge, plus possible damage from the tow trucks. (Don't say you weren't warned.)

I think I can safely guarantee that if you drive in this time, your NEXT visit to NYC will be by train, bus or plane. :)

Well we are just going to valet the car, so it will be in a garage the entire time so I don't think we need to worry about parking tickets. It's $50/day for the hotel to take care of the car.

I guess I will plan on getting in by 3 or earlier before the afternoon rush. Didn't think about dropping the car off early and leaving the luggage with the hotel if the room wasn't ready yet.

How much is daily parking at Iselin? NVM... looks like it's $100 for two tickets in and $80 for two tickets out.

Thanks. GPS/Google has us going in through the LT but I will look into alternate routes as well. I'm definitely beginning to think that getting there before the afternoon rush is going to be best.

You did a quick pass -- I scanned and came up with $42 per person each way (reserved seats from Iselin). Depends on the time of day.

BUT !!! you gave up too early. Here's a $36 pp deal for going in Saturday and returning Sunday ... Phila to NYC:

Amtrak - Hot Deals - Advertised Specials

I don't know about parking in Phila, but you may find a different "hot deal" starting closer to home.

Remember, the valet wants to be tipped -- both when you drop the car, and when you collect it. Also, tolls or EZ-Pass will add another $30-40 to your driving expense. And make sure you gas up before you go into NYC!

I plan on hitting the city with a full tank! The Benz is horrifying on gas, that's for sure. 8-12 city and 20-23 highway. :icon18:

I'm thinking $250 total in travel expenses (including the parking). Not that bad. This trip means my exhaust will have to wait, though. Staying on W 44th between 5th and 6th.

Manhattan is not exactly MT friendly, and I don't think the valets there drive manual transmissions very often. Better be safe than sorry.

Hmmm so I guess instead of going up to the Lincoln Tunnel to enter straight into mid-town I'm going to take the Holland over and then take 6th avenue up to W 44th.

Or stay on the NJ turnpike (go local) hit the GW Bridge (stay lower) and .....bamn a big ol'pot hole...J/K

I wouldn't drive my Z into New York. I used to live in the Bronx. Traffic is nuts, people are crazy, especially if there's a home game, pot holes everywhere, unfamiliar terrain. If you take .25 seconds too long to react to a green light expect the next 5 cars behind you to honk in unison.

Looks like you are pretty set on taking one of the cars into town. Just don't try driving beyond the hotel to sight see. I've seen a few accidents from "tourist" looking more at the scenery than road.

Have Fun!

you got the 6mt so take the clk

I go to New York every year the weekend before Christmas. I have never had any problems driving to the hotel. I always stay in Times Square. I don't drive when I'm staying there. I usually walk or take a cab. You live in Northern VA, so I'm sure you visit DC quite a bit. I think New York is easier than DC. There is more traffic in New York, but everything is in a grid pattern, North, South, East and West. It's not like DC where a street just changes names all of the sudden, or you hit a circle and have to quickly find which exit is the street you want. Don't sweat it no matter what car you take and enjoy your trip.

Honestly the Holland is the better choice; however 6th Ave is a pain in the ***, and the drive all the way up to 44th St may become the longest and quite possibly the scariest drive of your life (Taxi's, pot holes, and various other a-holes).
Although I'd take the Z into the city (I drove into the meatpacking dist. last night @ around 7pm, and I'll be going out into the city again tomorrow night for restaurant week.), it's definitely a tiring affair for stick drivers, and if you're not really familiar with the city's streets and traffic, then it's almost a nightmare. That being said, I still voted for take the Z, haha, and best of luck to you tomorrow. Hope you enjoy your stay in the city.

Thanks for the advice, guys. We are going to take the CLK. We'll probably decide on which way we come in the closer we get. ETA is 3PM, so hopefully traffic isn't too much of an issue.

i live in bronx ny and i drive 2 school and in to manhattan (6speed manual) every day and trust me it isn't bad as it seems plus there isn't tolls every where. (that is if u know how 2 get around) people that don't live in new york make it seem horrifying experience to drive in and it is not even in rush hour sometimes its smooth (unless there is and accident) traffic isn't usually stop and go it flows slowly. plus i like the thumps up people give when they see my car :tup:

Hey guys... it wasn't that bad. We took the CLK which was definitely the better choice. We came in through the Lincoln Tunnel and into Hell's Kitchen at around 3PM. GPS crapped out on me but we made it to the hotel fine. The drive out on Sunday was even easier.