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I live in Queens and in the past would drive to the L train line, park my car, then commute into midtown manhattan via subway. Lately I just can't stand dealing with crowded trains, delays, loud obnoxious teens, beggars, smelly homeless people, etc. Instead I've been driving into work and parking at a lot across the street that offers our company a discount of $13/day. Yes its $7.50 more per day not including gas but I have made some spending adjustments. Rather than buy breakfast as I use to I now eat breakfast at home and take my coffee with me to go and drink it in the car on my way to work. Usually breakfast and coffee would run be around $5.00. Rather than spending the usual $8-$10 on lunch I know limit it to no more than $6-$7. that's another $2-$4 I'm saving to balance out the cost of driving in. Those 2 adjustments made up for the difference in transportation cost minus the cost of gas which isn't much as I drive a very economical vehicle.
I guess my question is, if in my shoes, would any of you do the same in order to not deal with the hassles and drama of the NYC subway system or is saving the money more important to you while dealing with your subway commutes?
There is no right or wrong to this question. Just curious on the different point of views.
I live in Queens and in the past would drive to the L train line, park my car, then commute into midtown manhattan via subway. Lately I just can't stand dealing with crowded trains, delays, loud obnoxious teens, beggars, smelly homeless people, etc. Instead I've been driving into work and parking at a lot across the street that offers our company a discount of $13/day. Yes its $7.50 more per day not including gas but I have made some spending adjustments. Rather than buy breakfast as I use to I now eat breakfast at home and take my coffee with me to go and drink it in the car on my way to work. Usually breakfast and coffee would run be around $5.00. Rather than spending the usual $8-$10 on lunch I know limit it to no more than $6-$7. that's another $2-$4 I'm saving to balance out the cost of driving in. Those 2 adjustments made up for the difference in transportation cost minus the cost of gas which isn't much as I drive a very economical vehicle.
I guess my question is, if in my shoes, would any of you do the same in order to not deal with the hassles and drama of the NYC subway system or is saving the money more important to you while dealing with your subway commutes?
There is no right or wrong to this question. Just curious on the different point of views.
The dealbreaker is the traffic. You can get a monthly parking spot for $300-$400 per month but it's traffic that kills you. I'd rather not deal with it and take the train or even bicycle. I take the car into Manhattan on weeknights and weekends
But I hear what you're saying, De Blasio has been completely abdicating the city's responsibility to clean and safe trains. They are not issuing any more summons so what you have is triple the number of beggars, and every other subway car is vomit or **** soaked because they let the homeless sleep on trains now
I do something similar, my job is within the same borough. I pay for parking, $165 a month, otherwise it's $12 a day, and obvious car expenses. I eat fruits for breakfast, and bring lunch almost everyday. You would be surprised bt replacing fruits with coffee, those natural sugars get your day started as well.
I can't stand the MTA, only use it like 3 times a year when I need to run into the city, and I make sure it's not around rush hour.
I could probably live without a car at all, but I'm trying to avoid public transportation at all costs.
See if the lot you park in has monthly deals, otherwise I would be paying $12 by the day.
The dealbreaker is the traffic. You can get a monthly parking spot for $300-$400 per month but it's traffic that kills you. I'd rather not deal with it and take the train or even bicycle. I take the car into Manhattan on weeknights and weekends
But I hear what you're saying, De Blasio has been completely abdicating the city's responsibility to clean and safe trains. They are not issuing any more summons so what you have is triple the number of beggars, and every other subway car is vomit or **** soaked because they let the homeless sleep on trains now
My commute time is pretty much the same whether I drove or take the subway. About 45 minutes from door to door. Lucky for me that from where I live I can avoid highways and take local back streets to the Williamsburg bridge.
I'm a car owner and, for me, the answer is an emphatic "no."
It's just not feasible when there's multiple, more cost-effective options at my disposal to get to my office in Midtown (subway, Metro-North, express bus) - without dealing with the stresses of rush-hour traffic and parking twice a day, 10 times a week.
NYC (specifically Manhattan) just isn't a car-friendly town.
I live and work in Queens. I turn down a job in Manhattan even though the pay would be slightly higher simply because I didn't want to deal with the ills of NYC Public transportation everyday. I either drive to work, or walk, depending on the weather.
Manhattan is easily the worst place in the country to drive around in, by a long shot.
I live and work in Queens. I turn down a job in Manhattan even though the pay would be slightly higher simply because I didn't want to deal with the ills of NYC Public transportation everyday. I either drive to work, or walk, depending on the weather.
Manhattan is easily the worst place in the country to drive around in, by a long shot.
While I agree to an extent, after a few months of experimenting I found a route from the Penn Station Area to the Williamsburg Bridge that is pretty smooth. Here and there I'll hit a little traffic snag on the side streets leading to the bridge but for the most part its not bad at all. Traffic heading in the opposite direction (north) is a lot worse!
I leave work at 5pm. I constantly pull up to the front of my house in Queens by 5:50pm. Give or take 5 minutes. Not to mention I have to exit my building, walk to the garage, pay the attendant and go fetch my car.
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