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Pippi
Supporter
Username: Pippi
Post Number: 1899
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 11:52 am: | 
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My first choice is through staten island, but I did a map quest to see what the mileage would be and all maps point to Lincoln Tunnel to Midtown Tunnel ....
I need to go today at 1:30p. Not sure what the traffic situaltion would be at that hour, which is why I'd rather go through S.I.
what would you do?
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Grrrrrrrrrrr
Citizen
Username: Oldsctls67
Post Number: 384
Registered: 11-2002
| | Posted on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 11:58 am: |
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at 1:30 you should be fine going through SI...Other alternative could be GW bridge-cross bronx-whitestone bridge-van wyck expy |
Pippi
Supporter
Username: Pippi
Post Number: 1900
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 12:05 pm: |
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thanks grrrrrrrrr
I think the Van wyck might be even more of a nightmare than the belt pkwy, at least that's my instinct.... |
WendyP
Citizen
Username: Meandtheboys
Post Number: 3223
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 1:18 pm: |
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O.K. Pippi has already left for the airport by now, but this kind of brings up a "pet peeve" of mine (although pet peeve might not be the correct term). And it's very fresh in my mind because it only just happened yesterday.
We went to a birthday party for a friend's daughter on L.I. For some reason the mom thought we go via the GWB when we visit and sent directions to the place via the Clearview Expressway or the Cross Island or some such road I've never been on. Ultimately the place we were going to ended up being 5 minutes off the LIE at exit 34.
So we took our usual route: 78 to the Holland Tunnel, down the West Side Highway to the Battery Underpass (or whatever it's called) to the FDR to the Midtown Tunnel to the LIE. It took us under an hour. And the exits for JFK and LaGuardia were on the way.
My question is why, from here in Maplewood, would anyone go to the GWB to get anywhere on L.I. that's easily accessible from the LIE? I just checked our route on the map, and it's virtually a straight line. The GWB is like 40 minutes north, out of the way, only to have to go south again. And S.I. is the same, like 20 minutes out of the way going south, only to go north again.
I know going through Manhattan during routine "rush" times is pretty slow going, but I can't imagine it takes any longer than going completely out of my way to avoid it.
Sorry. Rant over.
Hope you had smooth sailing which ever way you chose Pippi. |
Grrrrrrrrrrr
Citizen
Username: Oldsctls67
Post Number: 385
Registered: 11-2002
| | Posted on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 1:22 pm: |
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GWB is only 20 minutes north...when I have to go to almost anywhere in Queens at rush hour, I almost exclusively use the GWB...othr parts of Queens and northern parts of BKLYN I use the Holland Tunnel/Williamsburg Bridge Combo. I commuted from Maplewood to 65th Street in BKLYN for 5 years, so I try to avoid SI in the morning whenever possible. Throgs neck/Clearview/Cross-Island does work very well for places right off the LIE...I've tried all the different ways, and the problem with going through Manhattan isn't always with Manhattan itself, it's usually with the LIE in Queens. |
WendyP
Citizen
Username: Meandtheboys
Post Number: 3227
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 1:28 pm: |
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Well, Grrrrr, I have to say you must drive very fast to make it to the GWB in 20 minutes. Even with no traffic. It's 20 minutes from here to the Holland Tunnel on a good day! I don't think I've ever made it to the GWB or the Lincoln Tunnel in under 30 minutes, no matter what time of the day!
But you said you did it for years, so I guess you know whereof you speak.
Still won't convince me on that route though. Seems most of the roads in Queens and on L.I. are pretty much a traffic nightmare most of the time.
One time, coming back from this very same friends house, it took us 2 1/2 hours. I thought I might shoot myself. And the worst of it was the wait to get in the Holland Tunnel. |
Smarty Jones
Citizen
Username: Birdstone
Post Number: 440
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 1:36 pm: |
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Wendy, I agree whole heartedly....there is some goofy NJ gene that causes people to think the GWB is: 1) the Low traffic alternative and 2) an easy shot over Manhattan to get to LI.
Anybody who thinks its quick to get to is wrong, it's at least 15 miles extra, just to get there, not to mention the 10 miles to return south once crossing out of the Bronx.
As far as traffic, there are time when the GWB is the worst of all the options....best bet is thru manhattan on Weekend mornings, otherwise take Goethals to SI and hop on the belt parkway....
My brother fell victim to this trap when somebody gave him STRONG advice to take the GWB from South Orange to get to JFK.....3 hours and a missed flight later..... |
WendyP
Citizen
Username: Meandtheboys
Post Number: 3228
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 1:41 pm: |
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Well, Smarty, I don't know about the NJ gene, because I'm pretty much "from" Jersey (moved here in '79 with my parents), but I do know that area as it's close to where I grew up, and I know there ain't no way you're making it to the bridge in 20 minutes from Maplewood!
My in-laws are in Hackensack, and on a good day it's a good 25-30 minutes there, and the GWB is even further east of there! But Grrrr seems to have done his time with this commute, so I'm not sure where the disconnect is! |
tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 4514
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 1:59 pm: |
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I'm not sure there's necessarily any one "best" way to get into or through Manhattan by car, unless you're going in the middle of the night. Any other time I put WINS on the radio as soon as I start the car and make my decision based on where the tie-ups are. |
catmanjac
Citizen
Username: Catmanjac
Post Number: 84
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 4:42 pm: |
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Some years ago a limousine driver gave me what he believed to be the best route: Rt 78 E to Rt 1/9 N to Pulaski Skyway to Holland Tunnel. Canal St to left on Center St (or a parallel st) to right on Kenmare St which becomes Delancey St. Across Williamsburg Bridge to BQE N, to LIE E. S on Van Wyck to Kennedy (or if going to area of Valley Stream, S on Cross Island Pky to Southern State Pky).
Current construction on Jersey City viaduct makes the Holland Tunnel a bad choice, though.
I took this route many times, and averaged one hour at dinner time, and as little as 47 minutes. But one time I had to pick up my sister at Kennedy, it took 3 hours due to excessive traffic, so it's a crap shoot. |
Pippi
Supporter
Username: Pippi
Post Number: 1903
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 5:44 pm: |
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I am back!
I took my own advice and it was smooth sailing.
Picked Notehead up at his office in Roseland at 1:30p.
Hopped on 280 to NJ Tpke to Goethals Bridge.
Got to JFK in an hour, which totally shocked me. Pulled up at Terminal 4 at 2:42. This was with incredible fog on the Verrazano and the Belt Pkwy
[disclaimer: I am a speeder]
Got off the Millburn/Maplewood exit at 3:45.
Wendy -I have taken every route possible to get from NJ to Queens/LI. Sometimes, if traffic is heavy in one direction, driving at high way speeds 20 miles "out of the way" is still better than being stuck in traffic. ANYTHING is better than being stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
One recent Sunday, I took the Lincoln to the Midtown Tunnel and got to my cousins Bday party in Rego Park about 40 minutes early! I always give myself plenty of time, but traffic and construction are way too unpredictable.
Tom - 1010 WINS was recently unreliable and what seemed like the "way to go" turned out not to be. sometimes, it's hard to tell.
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Stuart0628
Citizen
Username: Stuart0628
Post Number: 231
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 6:25 pm: |
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Unless it is late at night, we go through Staten Island. Agreed that the GWB is just too far out of the way to make sense most of the time.
We bring a map of Brooklyn in case the Belt is a nightmare and we have to parallel the Belt on local roads. It's saved our hides a couple of times.
We will also pay extra to fly out of Newark so this doesn't come up! |
Grrrrrrrrrrr
Citizen
Username: Oldsctls67
Post Number: 387
Registered: 11-2002
| | Posted on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 7:54 pm: |
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What I should have said was 20 mins from the exit 14 toll plaza...it takes just as long in the morning to get to the Holland Tunnel in the morning. I agree with Pippi, I'd much rather drive the extra miles to actually be moving, rather than stuck! WendyP, I can regail you with stories of getting from LGA to EWR in 20 minutes flat when I went to the wrong airport to pick up a Girlfriend once...lol! |
Eponymous
Citizen
Username: Eponymous
Post Number: 129
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 10:20 pm: |
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Is it worth noting that, contrary to the title of this thread, SI is part of NYC?
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Pippi
Supporter
Username: Pippi
Post Number: 1904
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 10:31 pm: |
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DOH!
I am pretty emabarrassed - particularly since I GREW UP IN SI!!!
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ess
Citizen
Username: Ess
Post Number: 1381
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 10:40 pm: |
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It's OK, Pippi. I think it's a habit -- not a good one nor a correct one -- to say "NYC" when we mean "Manhattan", and using the names of the other boroughs when we mean the other boroughs.
If I'm going to Brooklyn, I never say, "I'm going to the city". I say, "I'm going to Brooklyn."
Btw - to chime in about directions -- went to Fire Island over the summer; took the Holland Tunnel to wherever, totally avoiding the bridge, and it was basically smooth sailing the entire way. Can't imagine taking the GWB to get to Long Island, or Staten Island. Maybe Randalls Island, ultimately, though. |
tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 4522
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 11:26 pm: |
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yeah, 1010 is not always right. I also have XM in the car, and check both to be sure, and even then. But it's better than nothing. 880 AM has traffic "on the 8s", but their info is pretty slim. |
Pippi
Supporter
Username: Pippi
Post Number: 1906
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 10:31 am: |
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side bar - I have a friend who loves to call the traffic reports and tell them when they either miss a problem area or issue warnings about areas that have no problems |
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