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the Long Beach branch is fine, as long as you're not going to Long Beach. If you can get a house nearby the East Rockaway, Center Ave, or Lynbrook stations your commute will be a breeze.
Great suggestions, thanks. Any idea how hard it is to get a seat in the morning at those stations?
My boyfriend and I are looking to rent a house (SFH or large legal 2-family) that is an easy commute to lower Manhattan. By easy commute, we mean:
1) < 45 minute direct train to Penn with minimal stops & no switch at Jamaica
2) Frequent trains (ideally every 30 minutes or less) until at least 10 pm
3) No trouble getting a seat on the train during morning rush hour
4) Either a parking lot that does not fill up at the crack of dawn or nice neighborhoods with detached houses within a 10 minute walk of the train.
We found a great house in Port Washington that was walking distance to the train and met all of those criteria, but sadly someone snatched it up as we were looking at it. Our broker is keeping her eye out for similar houses to come on the market, and asked if there was anywhere else we wanted to look. Here is what I have come up with so far as possible contenders, and I would appreciate advice about them.
Our budget is around $3500 for a 2-3 bedroom, but we could go as high as $4,000 for the perfect place.
Here are the options I have thought of so far. If there are any other places that meet the criteria above that I have not thought of, please let me know.
Port Washington
Pros: Trains every 30 minutes, supposedly the most reliable LIRR line, direct to Penn in 35-46 minutes, nice downtown, best pizza in the world
Cons: I have been told that the lots near the train station fill up by 7 AM, so we would have to live within walking distance of the station. Getting a ride is not an option because we both work in the city. Questions: Are there other lots, public or private, within walking distance to the train that still have spots at 10 AM? (my bf starts work late)
Manhasset
Pros: On the Port Washington line, quick and frequent trains to the city.
Questions: I know you have to be a resident to park at the train - do those lots fill up early? Also, is it easy to get a seat during rush hour? I am guessing it is not too hard because in the afternoon there seemed to be plenty of seats after we left Great Neck.
Plandome
Seems to have some nice SFH's near the train, but probably too expensive and none are available. Does the lot at Plandome fill up early, or could you find a spot there at 9-10 AM? What are the restrictions for parking at this station?
Great Neck
I know that commuter parking here is basically non-existent even for residents, so we would be limited to walking distance to the train, and since we want a house not an apartment there is not much. But if we did find something, how hard is it to get a seat in the morning?
Mineola
Frequent trains and a shortish trip, but I am concerned about the ability to get a seat. How difficult is it to get a seat on the trains between 7:45 and 8:45 AM?
Any thoughts on these options? Also, are there any other towns that we should be considering?
Edited to add: we don't want to live in non-subway-accessible Queens, because then we have to pay both the city tax and the higher transit cost for the LIRR. So we are mainly looking in Nassau, although if there are nice areas in Queens that are on the subway where we can get a decent house for under $4k we'd be open to suggestions.
This is your original post. Again, I repeat, you will not get everything on your list. Even in PW, the parking lot will be full before 10 AM. You will need to compromise.
The Long Beach line is fine. But it doesn't always run every 30 minutes. I suggested Lynbrook because both the Long Beach and the Babylon lines stop at Lynbrook resulting in more frequent service than just relying on the Long Beach Branch by itself. From the E. Rockaway station, you should arrive at Penn just under your 45 min. max commute time.
Lynbrook does have a "downtown," but not as nice as PW. You can walk to a lot things in Lynbrook, including a movie theater.
Something you need to consider about the PW line. When there is a problem on that line and there are problems on that line, sometimes, you have limited alternatives. At least with the other lines, you might be able to take a different line and then take a cab or have someone pick you up from a nearby station. You can also take a subway to/from Jamaica, if necessary and it's great for getting to JFK. With the PW line, you might be able to pick up the subway from Woodside, but not all PW trains run through Woodside. With the LIRR and service problems, it's a roll of dice, either way.
Mineola, trains before 8.18 get a seat 85% of the time and parking is never a problem before that time. I like that there is access to Atlantic Terminal or Hunterspoint, great to have this as a back up in the event Penn has gone to *****! I take the express so Jamaica is the next stop and if you're standing, you get a seat then. Not bad at all.
I would definitely stay on that port wash line. I used to take the LIRR in from bayside and I usually got a seat. If I didn't it was no big deal, very quick ride. I've also traveled on the Babylon and ronkonk line. PW is the best. Plandome and Manhasset are my favorites from your list, but great neck and port wash probably have more rentals available. You might also want to check douglaston for rentals.,same line, but queens side
Your crazy if you think avoiding Jamaica alleviates the LIRR problems. I lived near the little neck station. I can't tell you how many times there are signal problems at Jamaica and they pull trains from the PW line and cancel the express and overpack a train and run it local. You want allot of trains be near Hicksville (plainview,syosset,jericho) or closer to huntington tons of trains. But parking can be a issue after 745am.
This is your original post. Again, I repeat, you will not get everything on your list. Even in PW, the parking lot will be full before 10 AM. You will need to compromise.
The Long Beach line is fine. But it doesn't always run every 30 minutes. I suggested Lynbrook because both the Long Beach and the Babylon lines stop at Lynbrook resulting in more frequent service than just relying on the Long Beach Branch by itself. From the E. Rockaway station, you should arrive at Penn just under your 45 min. max commute time.
Lynbrook does have a "downtown," but not as nice as PW. You can walk to a lot things in Lynbrook, including a movie theater.
Something you need to consider about the PW line. When there is a problem on that line and there are problems on that line, sometimes, you have limited alternatives. At least with the other lines, you might be able to take a different line and then take a cab or have someone pick you up from a nearby station. You can also take a subway to/from Jamaica, if necessary and it's great for getting to JFK. With the PW line, you might be able to pick up the subway from Woodside, but not all PW trains run through Woodside. With the LIRR and service problems, it's a roll of dice, either way.
I guess my original post wasn't clear about this. We want to live either near a station with frequent trains where the lot doesn't fill up OR within walking distance of the train. It does not have to be both - if we can walk to the train we don't need to park at it. I have been told that the PW parking lot fills up by 7:08 AM, so we are looking for something walking distance so we don't have to get to the train that early.
Like I said, we found the perfect house 5 minutes from the train in PW and someone snatched it up. So now we are waiting until something similar comes along. Thankfully I have a flexible lease at my apartment in Sayville (which is easy to park at and get a seat but just too far and infrequent for a daily NYC commute) and my bf is subletting a room in the city that I have been using since I started this job.
That is a good point about the PW line re. alternatives if there is a problem. How often are there problems on the PW line? I usually work pretty late so I figure I would avoid the worst of the afternoon rush.
Re. Lynbrook, how safe is it? Can a smallish woman walk home alone after dark?
Mineola, trains before 8.18 get a seat 85% of the time and parking is never a problem before that time. I like that there is access to Atlantic Terminal or Hunterspoint, great to have this as a back up in the event Penn has gone to *****! I take the express so Jamaica is the next stop and if you're standing, you get a seat then. Not bad at all.
Thank you - this is very helpful. Any idea about seats on the 8:27 train from Mineola? That one is appealing to me because it goes direct to Atlantic Terminal, which is actually closer to my office than Penn Station.
Don't the PW trains get disrupted easily because of weather related conditions? Some people in these forums have attested that the most reliable line is actually the Babylon line (Bellmore, Mass, Mass Park, Merrick, Valley Stream etc.). And if OP is going to lower Manhattan, it's more comfortable to get there via Atlantic Terminal which they can't do from PW. OP can check but some people have stated there are direct trains to Atlantic. Also switching at Jamaica is not necessarily worse than switching to the crowded subway lines at Penn. Often, it is more comfortable.
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