Here’s a novel concept, stop driving cars and use public transport. The more people who do this, the better it gets.
Most people in NYC do lol
Growing up nearby, sometimes my school would have class trips into the city. Being on the buses and seeing the traffic from within was enough for me to decide, “I never want to drive in NYC.”
I’ve only driven inside the city proper twice in my life, and it was as awful as I expected it to be. Trains are the way to go, no question. Stations that go there are abundant in the nearby areas, and the subway can get you almost anywhere you need to within the city, with walking for the rest. Pedestrians dominate crosswalks, traffic lights be damned, like roving herds migrating to the next watering hole. The light turns green for the vehicles, but there’s still two dozen people stepping off the curb - traffic waits for them to pass.
I can’t imagine living there and owning a car at all. Even if parking weren’t an issue, it just doesn’t make sense. You need incredible situational awareness, abundant patience, but also the ability to make merges and turns within tight spaces while surrounded by drivers who see your emerging presence as a threat. Both times I’ve driven there included near-accidents from other drivers.
If you’re thinking of visiting NYC, for your safety and sanity, do not drive there. If you’re traveling by car from somewhere farther away, do yourself a favor and find long term parking by a train station outside the city. This is not hyperbole, driving in the city is a miserable experience that you do not need. It’s one of the few places in the US where pedestrians rule the roads - embrace it and get your steps in, and take the subway for longer distances. Your legs might feel sore by the end, but it’s worth it, I promise.
I also grew up nearby. My first and only time driving in NYC was for work. I was 19 and my boss was having a bunch of us go renovate his wife’s apartment in Brooklyn so he could rent it out. So we all meet at the shop and proceed to follow him to the city.
This fucking asshole starts driving like he’s in a race in his brand new jeep suv, I’m in an old ass work van. I managed to keep sight of him till we got to the Lincoln tunnel before he just disappeared. When I finally got through the tunnel I had no fucking idea where to go. It was the early days of smartphones and Google maps was just useless inside the city. It took me a few hours to get to this guy’s apartment. Trying to figure out the city with all the traffic was stressful as fuck. Finally somehow find my way to the apartment and this asshole starts berating me.
I should have called him a stupid asshole but being a shy anxious 19 year old I just apologized and took it.
The few times I have had to drive in NYC - just drive like you’re playing Mario cart, the rules only exist for people who follow them, and from my experience, no one does.
So a tourist who only went to Manhattan (20 years ago probably) has a relevant opinion.
Do you have anything relevant to add to the discussion, or are you just here to make assumptions about people?
Counterpoint:
I live in a suburb to the north. This week I drove in for a concert at Radio City. There was traffic and crowds. Those are expected in a city. An app provided a method to secure a parking spot before I left home. At the show, we met several folks that had traveled large distances to attend. After, the street crowds were celebrating the Knicks’ win with enthusiasm. We grabbed some street food and drove home on empty streets.
I find it nice to know that I am so close to so many of the world’s best museums and other cultural highlights.
Driving has trade-offs. The ability to come and go as you please vs. carefree travel. Taking what you want or being limited to what you can carry. Commuting is best by transit. Special or occasional trips are best by car.
I disagree, but respectfully. I’m glad driving in the city has been less stressful for you, but even for special occasions, I always opt for the train. I usually bring a bag/backpack full of water bottles, and maybe sunscreen at this time of year.
The only downside I can see is if mobility is an issue. If walking for long amounts of time is a problem, I can see preferring your own car. Otherwise, I don’t mind walking multiple blocks to get to each of the museums. Though, I do wish the museums had longer hours. Every time I’ve gone to the Museum of Natural History, I’ve felt rushed along, because it closes at 5:30 for some reason. There’s just so much cool stuff to see, and never enough time to see it all.
You gotta think there’s something wrong with people who voluntarily choose to drive in NYC when there’s so many better options.
I have to drive a delivery truck though NYC on a weekly basis. I have a deep, seething hatred of Suburbans and Escalades.
Critics argue that those pushing for reforms “hate people who own cars,” in the words of Vickie Paladino, a City Council member who represents a district in Queens that is home to many car owners.
I don’t hate people who own cars but I do hate cars. They pollute. They take up valuable space. They’re bad for the economy. They kill people.
In 1996, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani moved the city’s traffic enforcement agents, the unarmed civilians who write tickets for parking and other traffic violations, from the Transportation Department to the Police Department.
Fuck Giuliani
The other day I saw a car double parked in Brooklyn. The owner was sitting at a sidewalk table drinking coffee from the coffee shop that’s there. A cop walked up and started to write a ticket, and the lady ran up to try to get out of it.
On the one hand, fuck the police. On the other, fuck that lady for double parking so she could just chill out for a while. One of the most walkable neighborhoods, and there’s a stupid amount of free, available, parking around there.
Either Technology Connections or Not Just Bikes dropped this into one of their recent videos. “Everyone hates cars. Even you. Even car guys. Everyone hates cars, and I’ll prove it. How do you feel about other people’s cars on the road? See? You hate cars. Other people’s cars, but you hate them.”
This needs to be chanted at every single city council meeting and urban planning department.
So true. Nothing like driving a delivery truck around a city to make you hate every little 70²ft of single human jamming every route all over a city where we have fantastic public transport and extensive bike lanes.
Fuck cars.
Robert FUCKING Moses did not hate cars in NYC. He also didn’t drive himself anywhere. He did office work while being chaperoned around.
Hopefully it’ll increase. Fuck NYC drivers
Now include the non drivers in that average.
Roadside parking is kind of a devils bargain. Its space that is public that is being reserved for a subset of the population. It obstructs visibility for drivers, especially now that vehicle sizes have bloated.
What we should be doing is removing (make them into a dead end road stub) redundant through roads using those those as dedicated parking areas. This would decrease intersection sizes and let more heavily used areas be fully dedicated to traffic.
You can solve that problem by just parking whenever you like!
For more life pro-tips, reply WHATABASTARD to 69420. Message and data rates may apply.
The vast majority of street parking is free, but there never seem to be enough spots.
So add off-street parking in multi-story parking garages and have a fee on that.
goes looking
https://www.bestparking.com/new-york-ny-parking/neighborhoods/new-york-city-parking/
It looks like there is pretty decent multistory parking garage coverage in Manhattan. It’s just not free — it’s actually pretty pricy, as parking garage rates go — and the street parking is. Unless there are zoning restrictions preventing construction of more of it, though I mean…that’s probably just part of driving in a very-high-density city.
I would rather use that space for homes for people than cars.
If you just built more free parking, more people would drive into the city and you’re back to where you started.
It’s just another tiny part of “The Shittening”, all around us, virtually every experience is filled with small sufferings never dreamed of 20 years ago. Why does it seem so pervasive? Is it me? ARE WE THE SHIT?
Nah, it is shortsighted and greedy decision making.
Buy a car and you’ll be free to go anywhere, anytime!..assuming there won’t be millions of other cars on the road causing you to get stuck in transit, look for parking lots, while breathing a delicious mix of exhausts.
Maybe if each of us considered the mass scale effects and automakers/oil companies wouldn’t be incentivized to hide these uncomfortable parts, we’d never have this hell in the first place.
Same in other areas of life.
1% of the time doesn’t sound bad
1.7% of your waking hours
Damn it, Mamdani!
thanks obama
I did this! -whoever it’s cool to hate
-whomever?
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Drivers are always the least productive people in a city. They are bad for local businesses and the general health of the population. There are no downsides to removing car traffic from cities.
Drivers are always the least productive people in a city. They are bad for local businesses […]
How are they bad for local businesses? I’d think having more customers would be good for business.
*Edit: I’m in no way defending cars; I believe there are more downsides than upsides. I just don’t think being bad for business seems logical.
