Hits: 82
TRAIN $49 CAR: $79
The METRO NORTH EXPRESS TO GRAND CENTRAL, 10:37 A.M. arrives. Our engineer was a woman and she rattled off the stations on the line to come with the nostalgic rat-a-tat delivery of conductors of old, crackling “next stop Hartsdale, Scarsdale, Crestwood change to Bronx and South, 1-2-5 and Graaaaand Central” This excitement in her voice thrilled me with the drama of a train, and she eased her No. 6 gently to stops and on the glide into 111 year old Grand Central she babied the big train into Track 105 to a whisper stop. NO squeak. Positively flawless train engineering. Breathtaking.
The Number 6 (BMT) Subway, roaring in. (MTA photo)
WPCNR TRAFFICA. News & Comment By John F. Bailey May 13, 2024:
Brenda Starr and I took in a matinee Saturday with friends from Long Island and learned just how much congestion pricing would cost us vs taking the train into The Greatest City in the World would cost us, as well as the environmental experience.
The bottom line: paying the $15 congestion tax scheduled to start July 1, at whatever entry we choose to enter Manhattan Central Business District by our car would cost us $79 for a Saturday trip while taking the train from White Plains on a Saturday would cost just $49, a $30 saving.
Here is our cost for two going in by train Saturday from White Plains to Grand Central and subway to Bleaker Street:
Parking White Plains Station Parking Facility: $9.75
Round Trip to Grand Central Weekend (2 Persons): $26
BMT SUBWAY N0.6 TRAIN 2 PERSONS TO BLEECKER & BACK: $13.00
Total : $48.75
Cost to Drive from White Plains to Bleaker Street and Parking
CONGESTION TOLL: $15.00
SPUYTEN DUYVIL BRIDGE: $4.00
GARAGE PARKING: $50.00
GAS (35 MILES) $10.00
TOTAL CAR: $79.00
The train trip saves you $30 over driving your once the Congestion Pricing starts.
42ND STREET OLD BMT TILES OF THE PAST–LOOK FOR THEM.
BLEECKER STREET STATION TILES SPIFFED UP SO OLD NEW YORK BRAND NEW
It saves you the aggravation and danger of the Hutchinson River Parkway, Cross County Parkway and Henry Hudson Parkway, Spuyten Duyvil Bridge onto the West Side Highway and stress of New York traffic.
The railroad is a clean and scenic ride and treats you to the scenic whisk of an express into Manhattan. You then take the subway uptown or downtown for 3.00 a person with the convenience of credit card tap on the turnstile, followed by the high energy rumble and roar of the greatest subway in the world enabled New York to grow. The cars are cleaner, ride swift, and the antique and nostalgic subway stations regale you with tile designs, explicit signs to look at.
The subways are not good if you are disabled. Hard to find elevators. Entrances from the street level for your return uptown or downtown are stairwells.
And you emerge from the subway into the chock-a-block dazzle of the New York modern with the New York classic architecture. From tenements to majestic exterior designs of century old buildings whose architectural features set your heart soaring with their beauty and whimsy.
Nothing I have ridden on thrills me more than the New York City “Subway In a Hurry!” It takes you new worlds! Better than a roller coaster.
Congestion Pricing will be recorded by gantry at whatever entry we choose – exits off the West Side Highway beginning at 60th Street will all have overhead gantries to electronically record E-Z Pass equipped cars, trucks, and vehicles subject to the toll departing the West Side highway at 59th Street. The 59th Street Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, and Williamsburg Bridge, Lincoln and Holland Tunnels and Brooklyn Battery Tunnel are subject to tolls. Previously the bridges were free.
This MTA website explains who pays, and discount plans here:
https://congestionreliefzone.mta.info/tolling