New York City Thread: Part IV (Info in OP)

[WestCoastBruinsFan]

It’s a great hospital. Both of my kids were born there. My dad is currently undergoing cancer treatment there. So thanks to your daughter for waging that fight.

If you make your way there for a visit, or your daughter ends up living nearby, I recommend the Port Washington Public House. Good drinks and food. Right across the street from the children’s hospital there on 165th.

Thanks, she is very excited to learn as much as she can and hopefully contribute something. I will definitely be down there at least once during her time there and I will check out the Pub.

 

[bluesXwinXtheXcup]

Well you New Yorkers came through!!!

I got from JFK to Battery Park bc of you

This is the song played as the USS Roosevelt pulled away from Norfolk, VA just after 9/11.


A story for my stay...

I volunteered to go out on the first warship after 9/11. USS Roosevelt. I was technically on shore duty, but went to sea.

We took over Afghanistan. A lot of bombs were dropped. I remember guys signing bombs. Like, "This one is for you Bin Laden."

The news was there filming it all. I remember Matt Laurer eating a bagel at my breakfast table.

Singers, dancers, Hollywood stars wanted to support us. Jessica Simpson, JAX cheerleaders, and Robin Williams come to mind.

Hangar bay 2 had a stage. Robin Williams came up to do a performance (while we were at war in the Persian Gulf!).

As the applause die down, a young Sailor yells out, "the food sucks sheet!"

Robin stops dead. Looks at the kid, and starts rubbing his eyes in mockery.

"Oh f***ing whaaa. There's solders not far from here digging their bed tonight, and you have a safe, clean, warm bed. We have men eating only MREs for weeks, and you have 3 hot meals per day. And you don't like the food? Oh f***ing whaa!!!"

We all went wild!

 

[bluesXwinXtheXcup]

Did anyone else ever go to CBGBs?

 

[Boris Zubov]

Did anyone else ever go to CBGBs?

Of course....& I was always scared for my life when I walked in & out of there. As a youngster, I recall driving with my dad to his place of business past the the club down the Bowery in the late 70s early 80s when it was actually skid row & saying WTF to myself. I couldn't imagine ANYONE hanging out in that area by choice. The first time I went in to CBGBs to see a show, I pretty much felt the same way, except my dad wasn't around if any trouble ensued. LOL.

However in an ironic, cruel twist of fate, the last time I was ever there was for my company Christmas party in 2003 when I was working for McCann Erickson. Yes the same McCann Erickson that Don Draper & all of Mad Men constantly shit on....with good reason. Sigh.

 

[bluesXwinXtheXcup]

Of course....& I was always scared for my life when I walked in & out of there. As a youngster, I recall driving with my dad to his place of business past the the club down the Bowery in the late 70s early 80s when it was actually skid row & saying WTF to myself. I couldn't imagine ANYONE hanging out in that area by choice. The first time I went in to CBGBs to see a show, I pretty much felt the same way, except my dad wasn't around if any trouble ensued. LOL.

However in an ironic, cruel twist of fate, the last time I was ever there was for my company Christmas party in 2003 when I was working for McCann Erickson. Yes the same McCann Erickson that Don Draper & all of Mad Men constantly shit on....with good reason. Sigh.

I remember really bad music, really loud.

Small, width wise.

Bar on the right.

Small stage.

 

[Synergy27]

I left the NY area in 2014. I make it back occasionally. I was in the city today with my children. I remember why I left.

 

[Kane One]

I left the NY area in 2014. I make it back occasionally. I was in the city today with my children. I remember why I left.

Cool

 

[Roo Returns]

Did anyone else ever go to CBGBs?

Yes, I saw a few shows their well after its peak but when it was still active:

Blood For Blood in late 2003 and Living Colour do a special tribute show the summer of 2005 to close it out.

It was a cool place despite the wacky open bathrooms (Chris Stein and Debbie Harry probably responsible for that lol). What got me was how narrow it was to the stage from the entrance to the bar. It was almost vertical in nature.

Did anyone else here ever go to L'Amour in Brooklyn speaking of placed Living Colour used to frequent. It was essentially done as a major venue by the time I could start going to shows. Same with Wetlands. I also miss going to Music Hall of Williamsburg and Bowery Ballroom, but both venues don't really have acts I see nowadays.

 

[Roo Returns]

Anyone else here excited for the Grand Central enhancements which will open in a few weeks?

It may actually help the MSG ice

 

[bluesXwinXtheXcup]

Yes, I saw a few shows their well after its peak but when it was still active:

Blood For Blood in late 2003 and Living Colour do a special tribute show the summer of 2005 to close it out.

It was a cool place despite the wacky open bathrooms (Chris Stein and Debbie Harry probably responsible for that lol). What got me was how narrow it was to the stage from the entrance to the bar. It was almost vertical in nature.

Did anyone else here ever go to L'Amour in Brooklyn speaking of placed Living Colour used to frequent. It was essentially done as a major venue by the time I could start going to shows. Same with Wetlands. I also miss going to Music Hall of Williamsburg and Bowery Ballroom, but both venues don't really have acts I see nowadays.

I've never been to the other places you named. Do you remember Webster Hall in the Village?

 

[Boris Zubov]

I've never been to the other places you named. Do you remember Webster Hall in the Village?

Webster Hall is still around.

 

[bluesXwinXtheXcup]

Webster Hall is still around.

Wow! I didn't expect that. I used to go clubbing there back in the early 90s lol

That place was crazy back in the day!

 

[Roo Returns]

Wow! I didn't expect that. I used to go clubbing there back in the early 90s lol

That place was crazy back in the day!

It was shut down for a few years recently but renovated. I used to go there a lot in the 2000s and early 2010s for a mix of indie, metal, and electronic shows.

Another venue I seem to be "aged out" of. Most of the shows I see now are in St. Vitus, Brooklyn Steel, Brooklyn Bowl, Elsewhere, or a new place in Queens called TV Eye (owners are Stooges fans? lol).

 

[IamNotADancer]

Alright here goes. Wife bought tickets to a game in late February.

Hotel is booked and everything yet we still have to find a way to get to NYC from Western PA. We figured we'd do Megabus as we have always done, come to find the Megabus round-trip is $450 which is quite the difference from the 50 bucks we used to pay.

Option 2 came into play which would have us landing at La Guardia. It's cheaper for us initially, but with carry on bags plus lyft/uber to get to Manhattan it evens out. But it is less stressful than taking a bus for 8 hours.

Option 3 is now on the table which is driving on our own as close to Manhattan as possible before crossing the tunnels/bridges and then taking a ride to the Hotel.

My question for you guys is, can you recommend a safe and inexpensive parking deck we can drop off our car for 2-3 nights west of Manhattan.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Synergy27]

Alright here goes. Wife bought tickets to a game in late February.

Hotel is booked and everything yet we still have to find a way to get to NYC from Western PA. We figured we'd do Megabus as we have always done, come to find the Megabus round-trip is $450 which is quite the difference from the 50 bucks we used to pay.

Option 2 came into play which would have us landing at La Guardia. It's cheaper for us initially, but with carry on bags plus lyft/uber to get to Manhattan it evens out. But it is less stressful than taking a bus for 8 hours.

Option 3 is now on the table which is driving on our own as close to Manhattan as possible before crossing the tunnels/bridges and then taking a ride to the Hotel.

My question for you guys is, can you recommend a safe and inexpensive parking deck we can drop off our car for 2-3 nights west of Manhattan.

Thanks for your help!

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[sbjnyc]

Alright here goes. Wife bought tickets to a game in late February.

Hotel is booked and everything yet we still have to find a way to get to NYC from Western PA. We figured we'd do Megabus as we have always done, come to find the Megabus round-trip is $450 which is quite the difference from the 50 bucks we used to pay.

Option 2 came into play which would have us landing at La Guardia. It's cheaper for us initially, but with carry on bags plus lyft/uber to get to Manhattan it evens out. But it is less stressful than taking a bus for 8 hours.

Option 3 is now on the table which is driving on our own as close to Manhattan as possible before crossing the tunnels/bridges and then taking a ride to the Hotel.

My question for you guys is, can you recommend a safe and inexpensive parking deck we can drop off our car for 2-3 nights west of Manhattan.

Thanks for your help!

Where in pennsylvania are you coming from? You can drive to ABE (lehigh valley airport), park for $14/day and there is a commuter bus to Port Authority right there for about $100 round trip each. You may be able to park for free at the nearby casino but there is only 1 bus per day to/from there AFAIK (same route).

Trans-Bridge Lines | Daily Bus Service | Bethlehem PA

Trans-Bridge Lines is your daily bus service for airport services, bus trips, city to city travel & more. Check out our bus schedules online here!

transbridgelines.com

 

[IamNotADancer]

Where in pennsylvania are you coming from? You can drive to ABE (lehigh valley airport), park for $14/day and there is a commuter bus to Port Authority right there for about $100 round trip each. You may be able to park for free at the nearby casino but there is only 1 bus per day to/from there AFAIK (same route).

Trans-Bridge Lines | Daily Bus Service | Bethlehem PA

Trans-Bridge Lines is your daily bus service for airport services, bus trips, city to city travel & more. Check out our bus schedules online here!

transbridgelines.com

Out of Pittsburgh.
We will definitely take our car now, it just gives us more flexibility. We just don't want to drive into Manhattan.

I'm still baffled at how expensive megabus has become.

I appreciate the suggestion you gave me though.

 

[RosensRug]

Out of Pittsburgh.
We will definitely take our car now, it just gives us more flexibility. We just don't want to drive into Manhattan.

I'm still baffled at how expensive megabus has become.

I appreciate the suggestion you gave me though.

Its really a shame Amtrak isn't a viable option out of Pittsburgh. I've taken it round trip twice from NYC to Pitt and it's a haul...Shame because it could easily be competitive with driving with a few simple improvements.

 

[sbjnyc]

Its really a shame Amtrak isn't a viable option out of Pittsburgh. I've taken it round trip twice from NYC to Pitt and it's a haul...Shame because it could easily be competitive with driving with a few simple improvements.

If you fly its a 2 hour flight and if you add 2-3 hours for dealing with going to and from the airport and airport security you lose maybe 4-5 hours over flying - times aren't too bad either. Its about the same time as the bus but a lot more comfortable IMO. I usually just assume the day is lost when traveling so the extra time doesn't bother me (at least on a train).

 

[IamNotADancer]

Its really a shame Amtrak isn't a viable option out of Pittsburgh. I've taken it round trip twice from NYC to Pitt and it's a haul...Shame because it could easily be competitive with driving with a few simple improvements.

As a European who has gotten used to the lack of public transportation and the horrible quality of the same in this country I could agree more with you.

Investing in this sort of infrastructure could alleviate so many problems, from creating jobs to relieving city congestions. There are so many positive things that rail and bus lines can contribute to this economy. It honestly baffles my mind.

I used to commute to my neighboring town via train. None of the hassle with gas prices or worrying about road conditions or in some cases that your car is even road ready.

I hope I will live to see the day where the US becomes serious about rail.

 

[sbjnyc]

As a European who has gotten used to the lack of public transportation and the horrible quality of the same in this country I could agree more with you.

Investing in this sort of infrastructure could alleviate so many problems, from creating jobs to relieving city congestions. There are so many positive things that rail and bus lines can contribute to this economy. It honestly baffles my mind.

I used to commute to my neighboring town via train. None of the hassle with gas prices or worrying about road conditions or in some cases that your car is even road ready.

I hope I will live to see the day where the US becomes serious about rail.

It's hard to compare europe to the US even though the area is roughly the same. Gas/petrol is a lot cheaper here despite the recent price hikes so most people would rather drive to a place like pittsburgh. That just leaves a small amount of traffic with NYC to make investing in high speed rail worthwhile. You're starting to see that investment in more densely populated areas like florida and soon las vegas (check out Brightline Florida | Brightline). But I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for high speed rail going regional.

 

[IamNotADancer]

It's hard to compare europe to the US even though the area is roughly the same. Gas/petrol is a lot cheaper here despite the recent price hikes so most people would rather drive to a place like pittsburgh. That just leaves a small amount of traffic with NYC to make investing in high speed rail worthwhile. You're starting to see that investment in more densely populated areas like florida and soon las vegas (check out Brightline Florida | Brightline). But I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for high speed rail going regional.

High speed rail is great, but I wasn't even referring to that. Regional rail would be a thing that could be implemented fairly easily. For the most part we still have the rail infrastructure that could support regional train commute with very minor updates.

The small town I live in for instance still uses their former transport line to run a tourist train in a circle.

I fully believe, despite the cost and to a point cultural differences that local and long distance trains could be a profitable and environmentally smart and economically smart way.

 

[sbjnyc]

High speed rail is great, but I wasn't even referring to that. Regional rail would be a thing that could be implemented fairly easily. For the most part we still have the rail infrastructure that could support regional train commute with very minor updates.

The small town I live in for instance still uses their former transport line to run a tourist train in a circle.

I fully believe, despite the cost and to a point cultural differences that local and long distance trains could be a profitable and environmentally smart and economically smart way.

There is regional rail - amtrak is about 9 hours from NYC to pittsburgh. Roughly the same distance from London to Edinburgh. I took a high speed train on this route which took 5 hours. I'm not entirely sure what you're expecting without high speed rail.

 

[IamNotADancer]

There is regional rail - amtrak is about 9 hours from NYC to pittsburgh. Roughly the same distance from London to Edinburgh. I took a high speed train on this route which took 5 hours. I'm not entirely sure what you're expecting without high speed rail.

That is a long distance connection in Europe (the sample you used is even an international route going from England to Scotland).
Regional rail as in smaller towns being connected via railways. I.e. Meadville connecting with Franklin, Franklin connecting with Titusville.

It would be a big deal if small towns, who for the most part already have some rail infrastructure, could connect with bigger towns such as Erie and Pittsburgh.

Let's take an example from Germany. A small town like Viersen has its own railstation. Through this rail station that town of less than 80k is able to connect to a bigger trainstation located in Mönchengladbach. From there it's super simple to connect to the major hubs like Cologne and Duesseldorf, which in turn enables a traveler to reach almost all of Europe without ever stepping into a car. All this is powered by what I call real regional railways, Pittsburgh to New York isn't as much a regional connection as it is an interstate one.

Regional would be anything under an hour and a half, at least from my experiences in Europe.

Emulating the European railway system brings much more positives than negatives.

 

[sbjnyc]

That is a long distance connection in Europe (the sample you used is even an international route going from England to Scotland).
Regional rail as in smaller towns being connected via railways. I.e. Meadville connecting with Franklin, Franklin connecting with Titusville.

It would be a big deal if small towns, who for the most part already have some rail infrastructure, could connect with bigger towns such as Erie and Pittsburgh.

Let's take an example from Germany. A small town like Viersen has its own railstation. Through this rail station that town of less than 80k is able to connect to a bigger trainstation located in Mönchengladbach. From there it's super simple to connect to the major hubs like Cologne and Duesseldorf, which in turn enables a traveler to reach almost all of Europe without ever stepping into a car. All this is powered by what I call real regional railways, Pittsburgh to New York isn't as much a regional connection as it is an interstate one.

Regional would be anything under an hour and a half, at least from my experiences in Europe.

Emulating the European railway system brings much more positives than negatives.

Can you give an example in the us for a connection you think is missing? At least in NY there are several different commuter railSystems connecting most small towns in the area. That's probably better than in the west but you need to change the attitudes of people there before you can invest in real. Even my dad... Once he got a car he drove everywhere he could ... He refused to take public transportation anywhere.