Where to stay overnight within 2 hour commute of NYC? 50/60/70 Ride

[bikerskier]

Will be coming south on the East Coast on my 50/60/70 Ride in late Sept on the two up leg with Marianne and we want to spent at least a day in the city without riding into the city. I want to park and stay overnight somewhere west of the city and commute a hour or two to the city for the day and overnight and then return to the bike and continue south. We have no clue how to make this happen or figure out commuter trains, etc. Can anyone give me some hints of where to start looking for answers?

 

[dcarver]

I am glad you are smart, Ralph. I'd never figure this stuff out,..

 

[majicmaker]

Bikerskier, I was born and raised in NYC. If you wanna park away from the city, Your best bet is to hit a hotel just across the river in New Jersey. There are thousands of them. Park your bike and taxi it into the city. Where in the city do you wanna spend the night in? My advice would be to stay south in Manhattan. Check out the hotels in jersey at the mouth of the Lincoln or the Holland tunnels. That'll put you 15 minutes from all the good stuff in lower Manhattan. To be totally honest, you can ride right into the city without a problem and get a room at a holiday inn at a reasonable price. I've done it. It's not as scary as it's made out to be.

Soho, TriBeCa, China town, The Village, Washington Square Park is the place to be if you're doing just one overnight. And please God! If you get there, don't miss the opportunity to hits Katz Delicatessen. Forget Disney, it's the happiest place on earth. The orgasm scene in "When Harry met Sally" was filmed there. They did that on purpose. The food will take your breath away. It's been there for ever. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have anymore questions.

 

[dcarver]

Bikerskier, I was born and raised in NYC. If you wanna park away from the city, Your best bet is to hit a hotel just across the river in New Jersey. There are thousands of them. Park your bike and taxi it into the city. Where in the city do you wanna spend the night in? My advice would be to stay south in Manhattan. Check out the hotels in jersey at the mouth of the Lincoln or the Holland tunnels. That'll put you 15 minutes from all the good stuff in lower Manhattan. To be totally honest, you can ride right into the city without a problem and get a room at a holiday inn at a reasonable price. I've done it. It's not as scary as it's made out to be.
Soho, TriBeCa, China town, The Village, Washington Square Park is the place to be if you're doing just one overnight. And please God! If you get there, don't miss the opportunity to hits Katz Delicatessen. Forget Disney, it's the happiest place on earth. The orgasm scene in "When Harry met Sally" was filmed there. They did that on purpose. The food will take your breath away. It's been there for ever. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have anymore questions.

Makes me want to ride there immediately! Oh wait, I haven't had breakfast yet...

 

[Intech]

I agree with Vic. Find a place in the city to stay. Just go in at out at off peak traffic times. I have ridden through the city on the bike during the day. My brother and I rode down to Battery Park to ground zero. If you prefer to ride the train in you could stay in the Tarrytown area (near Tappan Zee Street bridge). I used to catch the train there to Penn Station. From there you can connect to the subway or cabs on surface streets. Don't know anything about the hotels in the area, though.

 

[Eric L]

nice cheap hotels in the meadowlands - there are express buses that stop IN FRONT OF THE HOTELS and take you right into times square.

 

[Top_Speed1]

Well being that I go there all the time and I have kinfolk living there... I would not do the Jersey unless it's upper (North of the Geo Washington Bridge) like Washington Twp. area.

Concern yourself with 2 main things; Safety and City Accessibility. With that being said, Manhattan is convenient and most is safe, but.. it is quite EXPENSIVE to land accommodations within If I were you, get a subway map (online or print), most also show the the local rail-trains connecting to the color lines (subway routes) and going into Penn Station (located underneath Madison Sq Garden which is in the bling of NYC). Pretty much anywhere around NYC you can get to Penn Sta quite easily with either a 1 or 2 hop-over connection.

It's quick and easy once you have the rail connection from where you wanna stay. Jersey has connections of course as well (they tunnel under the Hudson) but just just watch your area, close to Manhattan can get shady.

Have a great time, be safe!

 

[Geezer]

Hotels in NYC do not generally provide parking, and if they do it is not included in the room rate, so if you decide to ride in make sure they can accommodate your bike when you reserve.

There is a nice ferry ride from Jersey called New York Waterway and they provide free bus service from the dock on the city side to mid-town. That is how I generally go when heading into the city. https://www.nywaterway.com/

You can also take the PATH subway from Hoboken, NJ into the city. This is the least expensive and most efficient way to go. There is parking at the Hoboken train station that is secure (use the valet parking feature). https://www.panynj.gov/path/hoboken-station.html

There are a lot of hotels along the Route 17 corridor in NJ between route 3 and route 4. That would include Hackensack, South Hackensack, Hasbrouck Heights, Rutherford, and East Rutherford. This would be about 10 miles west of the Hudson between the George Washington bridge and the Lincoln Tunnel.

I live a couple of hours from there and I have family in NJ close to the city, so I don't normally need a hotel so I can't recommend one, but I would say to stick with the national chains rather than risk a local one.

Let me know if I can answer any other questions.

 

[majicmaker]

All good info here. As far as the hotels not having a parking lot, a lot of them don't but, they all have contracts with reduced rate parking lots within a block or two.

The advice on all the mass transit into the city is all we'll and good but, if all you have is one overnight, that will take up all sorts of time doing that when you can open your eyes in the morning, walk out the main entrance and there you are in the middle of all that stuff. It's not that complicated!

 

[BigOgre]

Will be coming south on the East Coast on my 50/60/70 Ride in late Sept on the two up leg with Marianne and we want to spent at least a day in the city without riding into the city. I want to park and stay overnight somewhere west of the city and commute a hour or two to the city for the day and overnight and then return to the bike and continue south. We have no clue how to make this happen or figure out commuter trains, etc. Can anyone give me some hints of where to start looking for answers?

Where would you be coming south from and how rushed will you be on this stop? I know you said west of the city but expanding on what Intech pointed out, if you're coming down east of the Hudson you may want to take a look at the Metro-North system. There are some nice, tony towns along the Harlem line where you can probably find a nice B&B for the two of you and where you'd probably have no concerns leaving the bike. (Stop in Chappaqua and maybe Bill can get you a signed copy of Hillary's book.) The Hudson line also has some nice towns on the northern end (Cold Spring is a favorite ride-to area) and would give you a nice ride down the river into the city. Travel time should be within your hour or two commute window and, as you mentioned being there late September, being a little north might also give you the added leaf peepage factor.

I strongly agree with yourself and others about not taking the bike in. Unless you're getting paid to do it, dealing with driving anything into the city is much more a hassle than it's worth. Train in to your hotel, pick an area or two you'd like to check out then just stroll around with a subway map or cab fare.

 

[dudeckp]

Ralph,

I live in Putnam County, NY (near I-84/684 interchange) that's a 90 minute Metro North Train ride to Grand Central Terminal ("Midtown" NYC).

I know you're looking for "west of NYC", and I'm north... but if you're interested, we could probably put you up for the night.

PM me if you're interested.

Regards,

Peter

 

[Geezer]

Ralph,
I live in Putnam County, NY (near I-84/684 interchange) that's a 90 minute Metro North Train ride to Grand Central Terminal ("Midtown" NYC).

I know you're looking for "west of NYC", and I'm north... but if you're interested, we could probably put you up for the night.

PM me if you're interested.

Regards,

Peter

That right there is a nice offer. Riding in on the Metro is very convenient and relatively inexpensive. Just be careful not to miss the last train out of Manhattan.

 

[BigOgre]

Ralph,
I live in Putnam County, NY (near I-84/684 interchange) that's a 90 minute Metro North Train ride to Grand Central Terminal ("Midtown" NYC).

I know you're looking for "west of NYC", and I'm north... but if you're interested, we could probably put you up for the night.

PM me if you're interested.

Regards,

Peter

That right there is a nice offer. Riding in on the Metro is very convenient and relatively inexpensive. Just be careful not to miss the last train out of Manhattan.

No, don't want to do that. Still, not nearly as bad as sleeping through your stop on the way home in the wee hours. Now THAT sucks!

 

[dudeckp]

No worry, It's the last stop on the line (unless you transfer!)

 

[Pepperell]

La quinta manhattan is 200 a nite. Garage is just across the street. Theyre on 32nd st between bway and 5th. Clean smallish rooms.

 

[RichDoyle]

As former NE NJ resident (not my fault - I grew up there) I find one thing that adds to the inconvenience of getting around on a MC is paying tolls. I haven't been there in a while, but if it's still like it was, you want to know what the tolls are over the various bridges and roads and have correct change readily available, as opposed to having to get off the bike and dig around for appropriate cash.

For sure the Chicago area is like this, if you don't have EZ Pass.

 

[bikerskier]

As former NE NJ resident (not my fault - I grew up there) I find one thing that adds to the inconvenience of getting around on a MC is paying tolls. I haven't been there in a while, but if it's still like it was, you want to know what the tolls are over the various bridges and roads and have correct change readily available, as opposed to having to get off the bike and dig around for appropriate cash.
For sure the Chicago area is like this, if you don't have EZ Pass.

And another good reason not to ride into the city. We will be staying and parking the bike out of town and commuting in.

 

[SacramentoMike]

Just rent "Premium Rush," about those NYC bicycle couriers, Ralph. After you watch that, nothing about riding a motorcycle there could ever scare you.

I'll be leaving the old family plantation in Syracuse in mid- or later September and heading south. When do you think you'll hit Katz's Deli? I'll meet you there. If you get there first, order me a pastrami on rye.

 

[Ignacio]

The city isn't that scary to ride IMO. But, a good option is the Meadowlands out by where the Superbowl was played. I lived as a road warrior for 6 weeks and used the same place to park in subsequent trips around the 3 and 17 area. Courtyard by Marriott in Lynhurst is in the $130 range and would have parking.....or the Rennaissance across the street....or Quality Inn on the other corner represents a variety of budget options. Density to this area is kinda reminds me a little of Tigard around I-5. Ride the various buses into the 42 Street Port Authority and you're in Mahattan proper Then the city is yours via subway (my preferred mode), bus, and/or taxi pleasure. It's a 25-30 minute bus ride and pretty danged easy.