Expert advise on RV'ing in NYC
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/mas...arterbus2.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
Parallel parking lessons...
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.