NYC travel time (car) how much should I allow from S ST. Seaport to arrive at Linc. Cent. by 6:00 pm on a Mon?
My daughter’s NYU graduation is 5/11 and she must be at Avery Fisher Hall by 6:30 pm. We have no idea how much time to allow from her dorm to Lincoln Center during rush hour. Also, we need to go from the Holland tunnel, to Water st and then to the new Yankee Stadium by 9:15 a.m. on Wed. morning, 5/13 – estimated travel time for that would be a huge help, too. Thanks!
This could really take over an hour, maybe two on some days’ rush hours, and I would not be surprised at all. Completely serious, no exaggeration. Downtown and midtown Manhattan are ridiculous when gridlock happens, which is practically a given during rush hour. You’re a bit better off going north-south as opposed to east-west, because the avenues are wider and they’re almost all one way. Still, allow at least two hours to complete the trip on 5/11, maybe even three to be REALLY sure. Worst that happens is you get there early and have to hang around Lincoln Center in the middle of the day, which is really not a bad thing at all. Chances are you’ll be OK, but when things lock up, they REALLY lock up, and you could begin to strongly consider just parking the thing somewhere and taking the subway.
Same thing for Yankee Stadium – allow about three hours, but check to see how early parking will be available, or how early the stadium will be open. You don’t want to get there too early and have to aimlessly wait around there.
In both cases, I strongly recommend at least considering the subway – it’ll be the fastest way to go. I know it would be in graduation attire and all of that, but I do actually see that on the subways somewhat frequently during graduation season.
If you must drive, find out exactly how early is “too” early. For Lincoln Center, there really is no such thing. Buildings are open, there are nice places to wait, so it’s not so bad if you get there an hour or two early. Walk around, take some pictures, maybe Avery Fisher Hall will be open and you can wait there. For Yankee Stadium, I’d recommend making sure you get there only after any crowd would start to build around there, or after the building is open. That’s not a place where I’d want to be just waiting around outside when it’s empty.