Parking

Use BestParking:

https://www.bestparking.com/new-york-ny-parking/neighborhoods/new-york-city-parking/monthly-parking/

Hells Kitchen is lower-priced than most places in Manhattan, at around $500/mo.

Why have a car if accessing it is a pain?

“Why have a car if accessing it is a pain?”

Yes that is the argument I am making if we had the car in NJ. I figure, if we rented a car 2-3 times a month for weekend trips, that cost would still be lower than owning a car when you factor in insurance and parking. Like I said, my partner is emotionally attached to the car. It is a fantastic car for its age and mileage and very reliable, and we would not get much if we sold, but I just see this car sucking up money if we keep it in NYC…

is the car a 911turbo though?

you should move to Brooklyn I you want city & car

if you can afford Manhattan but not Manhattan parking, you should also reconsider if you can really afford Manhattan (or to keep your car).

Whatever you are saving by putting your car on the other side of a river will not be worth keeping car & paying for parking. get rid of it & rent as needed, or move to a hood you can afford parking. you are going to waste time/money getting to/from the car each time you use it.. and then not use it. Probably she is going to send you across the river to go fetch it too.

Let's say the car is paid off but still maintenace/insurance/other BS is like $2500/year ($200/mo). And you find a spot in JC for $200/mo, you are at $400/mo for a car you will use what... once a month? Twice? Just budget $400/mo for rental cars.

My Icon Parking app notes that in my home neighborhood (east side), it's anywhere from 600 - 1200 / month (seems to be directly related to the distance from the garage to 5th Ave). Near work (midtown west side), it's around 500-900/month. Unless you're using the car weekly (and thus by definition, not doing all the things in NY that people move to NY for - so why bother moving here?), it is not worth garaging a car. If you are using it weekly and not parking nearby, you will come to hate, hate, hate not having it nearby (winter!, nighttime transit delays!, carrying things!, the extra back & forth!). Oh, and did anybody mention that we're getting congestion tolls shortly, which will cost weekly car users parking in Hells Kitchen somewhere north of +$1000/yr)? Ditch the car, spend the money on a larger apartment, theatre tickets, meals out, and other fun city things.

Aaron, Well said!!

If someone is really in love with their car, is parking at some suburban home an option? Can be 25 miles away. Rent one when you need to use one.

Spend time walking the neighborhood looking for unmanned garages and speaking with supers.

Also DropCar seems to have Hell's Kitchen spots starting at $359

FWIW I'm currently paying $431 (including tax) at a garage whose posted monthly rate is $653 (not including tax).

@30 yes also true that posted vs actual rates are different worlds
I pay like 1/2 the rack rate when considering my cars size/spot/etc

$450

I'm not sure that's with or without the Manhattan exemption but we haven't bothered with that paperword since pre-COVID.

I think everybody who says "just rent" is not really considering how hard it is to rent a car when everyone else wants to rent a car too -- three-day weekends, August in general, the Pandemic. Yes, it's expensive to keep a car in NYC but $5K a year might be worth it to OP's partner.

Where is she looking to drive and how often?

@f_p: yes, availability can be a challenge. Been there, done that before I became a car owner. I have friends that don't own a car, but have a second home in a spot w/o reasonable access to public transit. They have a standing reservation at the agency for a car rental, and as a result, get an excellent rate, and always get a car. They do not incur penalties for cancellations. (I asked - they negotiated terms, and it's almost a corporate-type account).

I am retired and she works from home. My best guess is we would use the car 3 out of 4 weekends a month. I am a competitive runner and would probably run races on weekends in New Jersey when taking public transportation is really onerous, especially given running races typically start pretty early in morning. She would like to do road trips to explore the area as she is new to the Northeast. We have friends in Boston and Philly which I could see us visiting at most once a month. Can’t imagine needing to use the car on weekdays living in Hells Kitchen. So basically need to do the math, it’s a very valid point rental car rates in Manhattan on weekends could be much higher than we used to now, in Los Angeles. In LA, I am typically able to rent a car in downtown for $30-40 per day, add insurance, it’s about $50 per day so $100 for a weekend. Even for rental car use for 4 weekends, it’s $500 max. That seems to the rate for renting a garage in NYC, then you have to add insurance. Of course, if rental car rates are much higher in Manhattan than downtown LA, then I guess it becomes more attractive to keep the car

NYC rental is $150 per day with insurance etc. You use your car more than 6 days a month, you get close to break even. Don’t forget those 3 or 4 day trips.

Yes I just looked on Expedia, cheapest daily rate is around $90 near Penn Station for a non holiday summer weekend but then factor in insurance it’s indeed getting pricy, I guess should not be surprised as everything seems to be more expensive in NYC than LA!

Plus taxes, concession charges etc on $90. Basic calc is base rate plus 50 percent. Then you may pay double the toll with rental car as they tag on 100 percent convenience charge on top of camera monitored toll.

Don't forget to add Congestion Pricing to your budget calculations.

Also don't forget to consider to make your own judgement on what the value of being able to do little car trips is to you. Personally, just for me, it's huge.

Stupid example:
I would NEVER jump out to Sal, Kris & Charlie's Deli in Astoria on a whim by public transportation. But with my car all it takes is an urge and I'm out there. I'm also not going to spend $70 round trip on an Uber to meet a friend for 1 drink way downtown or spend 1.5 hours round trip on public transportation. But 15 minutes each way in my car? NP.

>We have friends in Boston and Philly which I could see us visiting at most once a month.

There are trains and buses to Boston, Washington DC, and Philly, which are pleasant and reasonably priced if booking in advance. If more than 2 people are going, a car trip (gas, tolls, parking) is cheaper, but with one or two people, train or bus is the same or cheaper, and there is no traffic. The train station is walking distance to Hells Kitchen.

Car insurance in NYC is very expensive, almost 3x national average, due to more auto theft and road accidents, and more stringent state requirements on what must be covered.

We are used to expensive car insurance, we lived in Miami for 2 years, and trust me, nowhere is car insurance more expensive than South Florida (assuming you forgo the bare state minimum, which doesn’t protect you at all)

I'm curious what NJ races have that NYRR et al don't?

If that's a major part of your social life, why not live in JC?

I would love to run NYRR races but they sell out very quickly as I now realize. When I lived I JC 15 years ago, I could sign up day of race to run a NYRR race. Now I need to sign up months in advance, which I will do going forward, but I am just thinking of races to run in the next couple of months. Incidentally I did find 5k races in Prospect Park every second Wednesday evening for only $10 race entry. And I did live in JC for 5 years and absolutely loved it, plus much less expensive than Manhattan. But I have always dreamed to live in Manhatten and now that I am fortunate to be able to afford a nice one bedroom condo in Hell’s Kitchen, I decided it was worth the splurge.

aaron2, that's really clever about the cars.

911, sounds like you like shorter distances but -- in case you're not aware -- you can buy a spot in the NY Marathon by agreeing to raise money for charity. My kid's school sells a few slots every year, and I'm sure lots of others do too. (In our case, the marathon money helps with buying more science lab equipment, getting chess into the classrooms, and making sure every kid, rich or poor, gets a free book at Book Fair).

Yes I prefer the shorter distances, not looking to get into the NYC marathon anytime soon. I just can’t believe that 15-20 years ago when I was a member of NYRR I could just show up race day morning and pay my entry fee. Now races are booked months in advance! I guess the increase in popularity of running is not a bad thing. Once I am established in NYC, I will become a member again and just plan my races way in advance! I am planning on spending winters in CA so I can plan my 2024 Spring running race schedule now so when I come back to nyc in spring, I am all set