How to Drive in NYC

I started, yesterday, in Toronto, with a five minute shuttle ride to the airport. Working my way through customs reminded me of a story that Robert Williams, one of my English teachers at Gaston College told, about when he was in the army and stationed in Berlin. He said that the Soviet soldiers who guarded the border were all specially selected. they were all at least 6’4″ and they all looked mean. It was that same distinction between the very young and smiling Canadian customs people and the U.S. officials I encountered coming back into my country. I am not complaining! I just think that it is very sad that we seem unable to solve the problems that are forcing us to act the way that we do. We have some pretty smart people. We should be able to creatively solve this thing.

The flight was uneventful and short, between Toronto and La Guardia. Then things got interesting. I rented a Suzuki station wagon and then commenced to drive to my next gig in Delaware, which took me right through the middle of Manhattan. I learned three things during this experience that I shall not forget for many miles.

GPS doesn’t work in Manhattan. The buildings are too tall.
Things finally settle down when you realize that you should forget everything, and concentrate on just getting through the next five feet.
Double-parked cars are your friend — when you have to change lanes.h

Oh yes! One more thing. At all costs — ignore the horns…

In reality, it was not so bad. But I understand now, why my brother sold his car, right after moving to Manhattan.

$9 worth — about the cost of three gallons of fuel…

4 thoughts on “How to Drive in NYC”

  1. To whom this may concern:

    Hi, I found your “2 cents worth” blog and am really impressed. Our company, Rhythmo Productions, have recently published the series of books “The Feder Guide to Where to Park Your Car in Manhattan (and Where Not to Park It!)” by Erik Feder. We offer a Downtown Edition (covers Battery Park – 30th Street) and a Midtown/Uptown Edition (covers 30th Street – 124th Street). These books are available in ebook format (pdf file) as well as standard paperbacks.

    We’d like to offer the readers of this blog a free excerpt of our book, which will help them save money, time and aggravation when parking in Manhattan. Would it be ok for us to post either the a link to free sample here or our email address so that any of your interested readers could contact us for the free sample?

    We are also organizing a blog/chat tour for the author. Please let me know if you would like to set up a time where Erik can visit your blog, answer questions and chat with your readers. If you’d like more info on Erik and our book, please check out our website at:

    http://www.WhereToParkManhattan.com

    Thanks,

    Dara Greenberg

    Rhythmo Productions

  2. That last comment, I find interesting. Sure it’s spam, but it is interesting how the article found a blog entry about driving through NYC. I suspect that a person planted it, but this is a demonstration of Web 2.0 — where ideas connect in logical, and often valuable ways.

    — dave —

  3. Dave,
    Why in the world would you try to drive through Manhattan from LaGuardia Airport? The thing to do is go to the George Washington Bridge and then take the NJ Turnpike south. You would have avoid midtown Manhattan altogether and probably saved an hour on your trip and a few blood pressure points.
    Next time you have to travel through New York, post your destination on the blog and some knowledgeable native will give you some useful advice.
    There’s some things GPS just can’t do yet.

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