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That Coles St rental in Jersey City is between 7th and 8th, across from McNair High School. I know this because I used to live there and recognized it immediately from Airbnb photos. It would take me about 12 minutes to get to Grove Street Path and I walk at a pretty brisk pace. So while it is certainly doable (many people make that walk everyday), it is not very close and might be viewed as far for people who are not active walkers.
However my main caution is that the JC apartment is simply not large enough to accommodate a group of 13 people. It has only one bathroom, no defined bedrooms, and no separate living space. After looking at the photos, I see that the couch in the kitchen must sleep 2 people but I still cannot figure out where the 13th person would sleep, not to mention where everyone's luggage will fit.
I say go with the house in Elizabeth. It has 2.5 bathrooms, 4 separate bedrooms and an actual living room. When you are home after a long day of sightseeing, I assume your family will want a space to relax and hang out and the house appears to offer that.
Thanks for all the info, I think we'll go with Elizabeth,NJ. Which means we'll probably go with a rental van since it'll be 13 of us and we'll just park our vehicle at the train station. So this leads me to another question. Which station would be the safest to leave our van at in Elizabeth(and surrounding areas) and can we have purchase metrocards at the Path stations in New Jerse before we actually get to NYC or do you guys have another system? Sorry if I sound extremely slow when it comes to how this works. I'm from Houston and have never used public transportation but a couple of times while I was in D.C.. Other then that i'm trying to understand how this works since this will be our first time in NJ/NY.
Trains are run by NJ Transit and usually you purchase tickets an automated machines at the stations.
Reduced fare for kids and senior citizens.
PATH and Metrocards, Metrocards are for NYC subway system inside NYC and also for PATH which is a separate subway system that starts in Newark, NJ and goes towards lower and midtown NY.
Usually if you took a PATH train you would not go all the way into NYC Penn Station on the NJ Transit train. You would go half way to Newark NJ and catch the PATH on the adjacent platform, so it depends WHERE in NYC you want to go.
PATH runs on a certain set of tracks and stations 24 hours a day on one fare similar to a NYC subway.
You will prob have questions it sounds slightly confusing until you get the "lay of the land" just ask and do check the various online train websites, NJ Transit and PATH.
NJ Transit also runs buses and mostly all the buses to NYC go to the bus station which is about 41st Street.
I will say most people don't drive to NYC because parking is tight and expensive and you have tolls of about $15 to cross the river but at least that is a one way toll meaning no toll on the way back across the river BUT if you where to take 13 people it might be cheaper to drive vs paying 13 train or bus fares.
I would check for parking info details. For instance to park a car around midtown is easily $30 or $40 and varies on length of time.
Some places way on the outskirts of NYC you might maybe find free parking, all depends where you are going. NYC is 5 boroughs, the main central one being Manhattan while the outer boroughs you might be able to park at.
Also you could do something quite creative like drive from Elizabeth to Staten Island then take a free passenger ferry to Manhattan.
You might be able to do an EZPass plan for the NJ to Staten Island bridge tolls which cuts that in half. I have no idea what the parking near the SI Ferry is like or costs but probably not too bad vs midtown NY.
Honestly if you are driving a van of 13 people to/from NYC from Elizabeth, I would consider driving to the Staten Island Ferry, Staten Island is right next to Elizabeth.
You would pay the one bridge toll, park for about $8 and the ferry is free, Passengers only, but quite scenic too.
13 people at a time I would consider that. Especially if you multiply 13 transit fares.
Check the various info on websites. SI Ferry runs around the clock.
You could even cut the bridge toll in half yes if you have your own EZPass and enroll online there is a plan if you go more than 3 times a month over the SI NJ/NY bridges the toll drops 50%.
Wow at first we all say yes $7.25 train fare from Elizabeth to New York Penn Station is chump change and we all do that, some of us oldsters getting in for senior fare, etc. or kids getting in half fare.
But if you are talking 13 people times 7.25, each direction, that's 26 times 7.25 each day.
Adds up very quick = $188.50 a day! times 7 days a week yikers $1319.50 a week.
You can get a weekly fare ticket which cuts the cost down a lot to $65 per person a week, $845 a week for 13 persons.
I would myself if it where me drive to the Staten Island ferry, park, get everyone in that way or even at that rate drive in since you are talking for practical reasons, traffic and parking but a van full of people.
Driving not usually recommended for practical reasons, traffic, parking but now you are like a van pool where you save money by virtue of multiplying everything by 13 people.
Also check what the NYC subway and bus fare deals are, I think they have some sort of weekly or monthly unlimited ride passes. You would use the NYC Transit buses and subways to get all around inside NYC.
You could even drive out to some places in Queens NY etc, park and take the subway back in but now you are talking being very familiar with NYC road, bridges, etc.
I would def go with the SI Ferry, its a free fare and you can get Subway and bus maps and fare info, they do have unlimited 7 day and monthly fares from mta.info | MTA Subway Map
The money you save you can easily go to a restaurant etc
So the natural engineer part of me was curious about how many times you could use the same Metrocard, this website easily explains that, only once per 18 minutes at the same subway station or bus route. Otherwise people could take 1 unlimited pass card and get many people in at the same time.
Wow at first we all say yes $7.25 train fare from Elizabeth to New York Penn Station is chump change and we all do that, some of us oldsters getting in for senior fare, etc. or kids getting in half fare.
But if you are talking 13 people times 7.25, each direction, that's 26 times 7.25 each day.
Adds up very quick = $188.50 a day! times 7 days a week yikers $1319.50 a week.
You can get a weekly fare ticket which cuts the cost down a lot to $65 per person a week, $845 a week for 13 persons.
I would myself if it where me drive to the Staten Island ferry, park, get everyone in that way or even at that rate drive in since you are talking for practical reasons, traffic and parking but a van full of people.
Driving not usually recommended for practical reasons, traffic, parking but now you are like a van pool where you save money by virtue of multiplying everything by 13 people.
Also check what the NYC subway and bus fare deals are, I think they have some sort of weekly or monthly unlimited ride passes. You would use the NYC Transit buses and subways to get all around inside NYC.
You could even drive out to some places in Queens NY etc, park and take the subway back in but now you are talking being very familiar with NYC road, bridges, etc.
I would def go with the SI Ferry, its a free fare and you can get Subway and bus maps and fare info, they do have unlimited 7 day and monthly fares from mta.info | MTA Subway Map
The money you save you can easily go to a restaurant etc
That's why i'm heistant about taking the bus because the money would add up since we'll be in the area for 5 days and I know we will be going back and forth from NJ to NYC for 4 out of those 5 days. So you're basically saying our best bet would be to drive to the Staten Island Ferry, park there and take the Ferry to get in and out of the city. And while were in the city(mostly Manhattan and we might go to Brooklyn once) just buy a 7 day metrocard to get around in Manhattan till we're ready to go back to NJ and take the SI Ferry again?
And we won't drive in and around NYC only NJ. Everybody in my family agreed we don't want to take that drive in the Big Apple. But you've been a HUGE HELP! I was almost starting 2nd guess the idea of going to NYC. My only hesitation was the Subway experience once i'm in the city. We have 3 small kids and i'm just a little curious how "crazy" the subways get.
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