Liberty RV Park

[merle&louise]

Has anyone stayed in Liberty RV Park in Jersey City, NJ?

It is across the Hudson River from Manhattan. We are planning a trip to the "Big Apple" in the Spring of '07 or '08. It seems to be convenient to the New York sites.

I would appreciate any infor on this park or any other suggestions as to where we could park to visit NYC.:cool:

[Ray Davis]

I have never personally been there, but one of the places I've used to evaluate parks while on a trip is www.rvparkreviews.com.

Here's the reviews for that particular park

http://www.rvparkreviews.com/regions/New_Jersey/Jersey_City.html

[merle&louise]

Thanks Ray, I checked RV Park Reviews out and it looks like the location is going to make the decision for us. From this park it will be easy to catch the subway or ferry to get to Manhattan.

Too bad there is no RV parking area around any of the large hotels like Jeff Bayley described in Los Angeles (Four Seasons Hotel).

[Ray Davis]

Too bad there is no RV parking area around any of the large hotels like Jeff Bayley described in Los Angeles

I don't know, you could try it. Just pull up next to one of those big hotels and look important!!

I'm not sure I'd want to drive a bus in Manhattan personally. I don't even like driving a car there!!

[Jeff Bayley]

Merle & Louise-

I'm your huckelberry on NYC parking and RV'ing. I reported on The Four Seasons spot in LA that I think you read.

I found parking in NYC it to be fairly easy if you don't mind a few tickets. First, you can't use the Holland Tunnel to get there, you have to use the Lincoln Tunnel or Geaorge Washington Bridge. For an H, GW is the only way . Clearance through the tunnels too low for an H. I think the tunnels are like 12' 8" or something. I heard my arial rubbing the ceiling of the tunnels a few times and I felt like an electric bumber car or electric street car. Also, no propane allowed through ANY of the tunnels around NYC. They always ask you if your carrying propane but I never had them look. I don't have any propane.

I stayed in NY for about 9 months and a very good portion of that was in the city and some in Long Island. I parked right on the street and mostly in No Parking zones which.....you guessed it......never had any cars in my way. You can get by parking illegally for about two nights in the same spot w/o any tickets if you don't move. Day 3 is ticket day ($115) if you don't move (on average). The meter maids or police seem to give the bus diplomatic immunity for a couple of days. It seems to be more transparant to them (oddly) compared to passenger cars. I got around $1,500 worth of tickets in the 9 months but I think it was worth it becaues the experience of living in the city was cool. I never had any incidence with any nuckle heads knocking no the bus or trying to break in or anything of the sort and never felt unsafe. Keep your bay doors locked even when driving around the city however.

If you don't want to get tickets, you can use this handy link I found for all the "Bus Layover" spots throughout the city.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/masstran/buses/charterbus2.html

The only reason I never used these spots ALL THE TIME was because I didn't get very many tickets when I picked my own spot anyway and sometimes I wanted to be parked near something special like Times Square.

These are for drivers carrying groups around to use. Our buses blend right in and there is no meter to feed and I used these sometimes. They're are some of them within walking distance to Times Square. I parked for 2 or 4 nights near The David Letterman show and watched outside my windown while 6 NYC police sipped coffee and never gave me a 2nd glance even though I was illegally parked. Parking illegally in NYC is standard practice for devliery trucks and all sorts of stuff like that. There simply is no other choice and the cops seems to understand this. A car is more suject to attention that a commercial looking vehicle.

I parked dozens of nights near The Today Show in Rockefeller Center. You wake up really early from the various music performers they have daily that play outside in the courtyard there. This is a big tourist attraction and you're right there in the morning to catch atomatically. You can check the schedule of acts and stay there the night before someone you might want to hear. The acts are mostly all famous musicians. The cops don't bother you here and seem to leave the job up the dozens of private security that work for Rockafeller Center. I guess they thought we were "with the band". I would recommend using this for one day at a time and then moving on. Lots of tour buses stopping and going here all day letting tour groups off so they also assume your one of those.

If you don't want to do any of the above for some reason, I got another one for you. There's a park in Hoboken which is right in between Holland and Lincoln tunnels called Frank Sinatra Park. This is Blue Eyes home town. Anyway, right along that park there are meters and it is a bit of a challange to get 3 of them in a row but you can do it if your determined and patient. Sometimes you have to post it for a while and wait for a car or two to leave. I carry cones and block the spots off one at a time until I get em all lined up. This is a GREAT spot because your right on the Hudson river and you have a million dollar view of the skyline at night. Your right near a subway to go into the city. I stayed here for dozens of nights and when I got tired of trying to keep the meters fed or let them lapse, I found that I didn't get very many tickets here and besides they're only $40 tickets anyway. Nothing relative to the $115 just over the river in NYC. There is a turn that takes your turning skill to the limit to get on that street and park and I think my wheels inched up onto the curb but you can do it. I have a 45 so if you have a 40 then easier.

Now some people have said they would never dream of doing these things. One Prevost owner I met at the customer lounge at the Prevost service in Jacksonville said he would NEVER stay on the street or even at Wal-Mart and he ONLY stayed in RV parks. He was afraid. I read the posts recently on carrying guns in the buses and I have to admit that I got a reality check from some of the posts which will make me be more careful. I think I'm lucky that no one every keyed my bus but they haven't. The Rockafeller Center parking is really safe because A) It's a nice part of town and B) there are security guards all around.

Oh, there's a law in NYC about buses running their engines if they are parked. It's a $3,000 fine. I never had to learn this the hard way. This ordianance is posted all around by the way so it's not a secret. It's meant for engines and not generators. I guess they don't know that I'm crazy enough to RV for 9 months in NYC so they haven't make RV laws there yet. he,he. Anyway, it's not meant for generators and our generators are so quiet you don't have a problem but one time I had a aparment dweller come down and tell me the exhaust was getting into their open window. They could have called the police and I might have been cited for the $3k but nothing happened. Lesson is, use caution here if your parked against an occupied builidng and if the weather is nice, windows will be open and more need for caution.

I never stayed in one RV park so can't report about those at all. I never even looked one up. If you get a few tickets you'll break even for what the RV park would have charged and you'll have the experience of actually "living" in the city for the time your there. One draw back is the noise from traffic in the morning. The Bus Layover spots (in the hyper link I posted) are often times in more remote areas which reduce the noise in the morning a little but but when traffic is bad there ain't a street in the city that doesn't get filled up from people trying to take their secret route. Their ain't no secret streets for locals and cab drivers. "Forget about it!".

One final suggestion if you don't dig the ones above would be to truck on through to Long Island and find a place to post it within walking distance to a train station so you can take the train in and out of the city from Long Island. Parking in Long Island is a bit easier but I like the spot in Hoboken better for the view and also it is only one or two stops to Manhatten. I can get you an actual address for your GPS to that spot if you want it or I can email you a map that has it marked. If your think the NYC thing is too crazy an idea then the Hoboken spot would be a place to warm up as a stepping stone. Once you get the spot there don't move. I stayed there for a week without moving. 2 or 3 $40 tickets is all. Dont' even bother trying to feed 3 meters. Cost you more than the ticket.

Hope this helps. I should write a book on RV'ing in NYC. I think I just wrote Chapter 1.

Here's some snap shots from me inside the city.
http://www.skincarepro.com/laserbusny/ny_pics.htm

[merle&louise]

Jeff,

Great post! This is why I like this forum. Who would have thought that anyone would try parking a 45' bus in downtown Manhattan. I love it.:D

We were going to stay in Liberty RV Park in Jersey City, NJ but now, we are going to try what you did. I agree on the parking tickets, just pay them. It's cheaper than the $60/night for the RV park and consider the LOCATION.

I'll let you know how everything turned out after our trip next year.

Thanks again Jeff for the very informative post.

[Jeff Bayley]

Tuga-

I just saw where you have a Newell with slides instead of a bus. I think that a big part of the low tickets and "diplomatic immunity" as I call it are due to the appearance of the bus and it looking like a commercial vehicle. FYI.

Also, one more thing. If your doing things like getting tickets to show like David Letterman of other tappings , having the bus is super convienient. You go to the ticket counter and find out that your supposed to be back at 1pm to wait in line for example. You just walk around the corner where your parked and take a nap until 1pm and go a back again. Show starts at 4pm ? No problem. Go back to the bus and update your POG post and tell us how it's going.

Drop your shopping bags off to lighten your load and the list goes on. Very convieient.

[MangoMike]

Jeff,

Nice post. I'm not sure if I have the gonads to park in NYC for a night, little alone 9 months. Quite a story. I may have to take the Mango buddies up for a little Road Trip.

Mike

[merle&louise]

MM,

Do you think that you could give me some parallel parking lessons? Based on your parking ability in St. Louis (BBQ contest) you are the MAN!

After thinking about it, I don't think that parking on the street will work because Louise and her daughter Laura use conservatively 500 gallons of water a day. Washing their hair twice a day everyday just wouldn't cut it in the Big Apple. We will just stay at Liberty RV Park in Jersey City, NJ. It's only $60/night and we won't have to worry about vandals or parking tickets.

But I have to admit, Jeff is one cool dude. It takes balls to drive a bus in Manhattan, much less park for days at a time. Jeff, YOU ARE THE MAN! I just can't believe that you did that.

[Jeff Bayley]

Tuga-

Water ? I got an answer for that too.

There are water spikets on the outside wall of the commercial buildings. They are used for cleaning the sidewalks or other maintainence issues I presume. Sometimes they are located right near the water supply the city would use for the Fire Department. While I was brave enough to mooch some water from the buildings water, I elected NOT to try my luch with the NYFD stuff. At 2am in the morning you can pretty much get away with anything you want there if your bold (stupid? like me). I finally found one of the special keys that these faucets use to keep people like me out. You can use a socket set to make it work in the absense of the correct tool which is what I did. I parked and while walking about the area I eyeball where the spikets are and pick up the water as needed. Plenty of city drains to dispose of the grey water (I have seperate grey/black tanks) and I suppose you could call a pumping service for the black tank if needed. My wife and I can easily go a week without taking on fresh water w/o doing anything special except avoiding laundry of course. The Today Show spot I told you about in Rockafeller Center has water as described right there. Nobody questioned me about the water at all. I even laid down in the street in a sleeping bag for giggles and New Yorkers just stepped right over me as you would expect. There is also water at the Hoboken spot I described.

What is else you need ?

[merle&louise]

[QUOTE=Jeff Bayley]Tuga-

At 2am in the morning you can pretty much get away with anything you want there if your bold (stupid? like me). I finally found one of the special keys that these faucets use to keep people like me out. You can use a socket set to make it work in the absense of the correct tool which is what I did.

Jeff,

I can't stop laughing; this is great!:D :D

Do you drive around at 2 AM to look for the parking places? It would seem that that would be the best time of day to do it. I have had calls from my friends warning me not to park in the city because of the terrorism issue.

I can't believe that you dump your grey water in NEW YORK CITY! :eek:

Thanks for the help, but I think I'll stick with Liberty RV Park.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Say Jeff,:D I noticed a small detail I your last post. On 10-31-06 you were traveling with your fiance Stefanny that can,t cook:eek:. Today you are traveling with your wife. :D I wondered about your silence for the last 30 days. Are congratulations and best wishes in order or was that just a slip of the keys?;) We can celebrate at POG III.

[BUSTER]

Hi Tuga,

I grew up behind the Statue of Liberty in NJ...it is a good and bad thing...at POGiii I can take as much time as you want to talk to you and Karen about the world's greatest town ( if you bring a LARGE pile of money...then it is a great town)

I got the Jotto desk for my coach computer but they shipped it to my Florida address and not the California one where the coach is...looks like it will do the job...thanks for the info

All the best to all POGGERS !!

Mike & Jean Simmons

98 Country Coac/03 Grand Cherokee

[Jeff Bayley]

Jim- To answer your question, I'm still engaged. I flip flop back and forth between "wife" and "fiance". Guess I should pick one and stick to it.

Tuga- Yes, 2am is a great time to find parking and get around New York with less traffic of course. I like driving at night many times even on the highway. Truckers do also I noticed.

The more people reply saying "I can't belive you park in New York" the more I realize I'm and odd bird. And I thought I was the sane one all this time.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Mike:

Bayonne? Jersey City? Kearney? Hoboken?

A former Secaucus boy.

[lewpopp]

Jeff, you have to be the craziest dude in the country. NYC is another country and no one knows the language. There are more crazy people per square mile in NYC (not locked up) than any place on earth.

PHEW !!! You tired me out with the story. All I could picture some drunk or crazed person lighting your coach up. They would sooner pee on your coach than look at it. That story beongs in "Ripleys Believe It Or Not"

I am from New York State (260 miles away) and there is not one person who lives around the city that would try anything like that.

Really now, are you sure you aren't bull$hitting us?

Lew

[BUSTER]

Jon,

I grew up in Bayonne and went to high school in Jersey City...behind the Colgate clock...got to be a local to understand that...went to college in Jersey City also...Jesuits for 8 years!!!

All the best to POGGERS !!!

Mike & Jean

98 Country Coach/ 03 Grand Cherokee

PS...Jon...I do need to get back to you o set up the work I need done when I take the coach to Mira Loma soon..Mike

[Jeff Bayley]

Lew-

I got pictures to prove the New York City tour. I put the link in one of the other posts but here it is again.

http://www.skincarepro.com/laserbusny/ny_pics.htm

A couple pictures are not from NYC. One if on the water in a parking lot in Cape Cod and the one of me hanging out the drivers side window is in Camden Maine in the fog. All the others are NYC. The one of the gal and guy in the chairs on the sidewalk are two people that worked for me at the time and that picture is where I camped in Rockafeller Center. If you look closely you can see the flag poles in backgroud characteriztic of the center courtyard at Rockafeller Center. I can't belive my mirrors never got ripped off by another bus or truck honestly. It wasn't until we almost were ready to leave that I got the bright idea to start putting the mirrors in when I parked by loosening them with a socket. In many cases, I'd look out the window and see other trucks and buses coming uncomfortably close but it was never enough to make me throw in the towel. All I can tell you is that I never had one bad thing happen. Nobody ever threw a bottle at the bus, nobody ever peed on my tires or put a bannana in the tail pipe. I'll see if I got some more photos to post. I got some great pictures of me pretending to be homeless in a sleeping bag on the sidewalk.

Oh, one time while driving around there, my mirror kissed a passenger bus mirror because it was so tight. We were driving at Hwy speed on the approach to the Lincoln Tunnell on the NJ side. No damage. The lanes are so freaking tight there there was nowhere to go. That was the only thing that happened besides my $1,500 or so contribution to NYC from my parking tickets. If you consider what an apartment cost to rent or a hotel ($300-$400 a night) then $1,500 ain't bad considering I was roving about in the jungle for 9 months. I'll go back and do it again.

[garyde]

Jeff. Are you sure you didn,t work for CNN as a Foriegn Correspondent.!!!!
How do you cope in the midlands?
I think you are our Resident 'Go To Guy' for Traveling 'where no man has gone before'
Keep them coming.

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Jeff, From those pictures it looks like your bus IS low in the rear end. Anybody else have an opinion here? The hight on the back should be a little higher than the front. Those rubber skirts on Jeffs look like they are almost at the lip of the rim. On ours the bottom of the rubber skirt is only mabye an inch or so lower than the top of the tire but in any case the rear is supposto be higher than the front.

[lewpopp]

Hey Joe

Jeff had an air bag lifted on NYC and NOW you have to clue him in.

Jeeze