Commute from NYC to Melville

[Namesake78]

Here is my update after two and a half years. I had moved to Long Island @ Jericho to avoid the commute. Life was good - took me 10-15 mins to get to work. Last summer I moved back to City on UES - 70th. The commute to Melville has not been bad. I take Queensboro bridge with LIE and it takes me 40/45 mins the morning and close to 55/60 mins to come back. I start around 6:30am in the morning and leave office around 4:15pm. Reverse commute is not bad. Worse has been 1:30 mins on the bad snow day in Feb this year, happened only once.
As far as parking, I tried street for a month and its too much of a hassle. Daily commuter has to take a garage- that money is worth the peace of mind.
Anyone considering reverse commute to LI should be positive that it’s not a bad deal.

[monkeygorilla]

Originally Posted by Namesake78

Here is my update after two and a half years. I had moved to Long Island @ Jericho to avoid the commute. Life was good - took me 10-15 mins to get to work. Last summer I moved back to City on UES - 70th. The commute to Melville has not been bad. I take Queensboro bridge with LIE and it takes me 40/45 mins the morning and close to 55/60 mins to come back. I start around 6:30am in the morning and leave office around 4:15pm. Reverse commute is not bad. Worse has been 1:30 mins on the bad snow day in Feb this year, happened only once.
As far as parking, I tried street for a month and its too much of a hassle. Daily commuter has to take a garage- that money is worth the peace of mind.
Anyone considering reverse commute to LI should be positive that it’s not a bad deal.

Glad your are having a good commute! Melville to the city *is* surprisingly quick & easy when you time it right...

[unam]

Thanks for the update - that was informative. I wonder what it would be if you left Mellville later than 4:15 pm. That seems early for most corporate jobs. If you left at 6:30 pm for example, how long would it take?

Also, how much are you paying for parking? I know there are some, not many, cheap places like $300 a month, but those parking lots are in inconvenient locations.

[Namesake78]

Average commute time from Melville to Van Dam st (Last exit of LIE for QB bridge) or East 35th (end of mid town tunnel) is 40 to 55 mins. I have started between 3:00 to 5:30pm and the story is same. I am sure post 6:30 it will be much easy but not too different. Every day is slightly different. Most traffic you will find at the sections where other highways join LIE (Cross Island, Grand central etc), mostly after HOV lane ends. It takes me next 15/25 mins to reach East 67th st & 2nd ave where I park after that. If you are uptown then bridge is the best option and tunnel is waste of money as it takes same time via both routes.
Parking is tricky. I had used $300 Icon parking and experience was very bad. I have been using Quik park which is around $400, they are good, No wait time. You get 8% discount as a Manhattan resident & half price parking at their other locations. In my experience those few dollars in parking makes a huge difference mentally and saves time.

Tip - Take northern state only to get to LIE, never all the way to Queens. HOV is trouble-free till Exit 39.

[ishthomas]

Hi,
Sorry for necroposting, but if you're still on this forum, can you post an update?
Were you commuting via HOV at that point?

Why did you move to UES? You said that LI was fine, but you moved back to Manhattan with the car. You have to pay for your commute, city tax, living in UES is more expensive + $400 for a garage. I'm guessing it's like $1000/month more. I'm curious, nothing more.

Thanks