Taking scenic route: Brooklyn-LGA

[jasbo49]

We will be docking in Brooklyn early in the morning Saturday, Sept. 24 and flying out of LaGuardia a little before 3 p.m.

 

We'd like to see a bit of New York on the way to the airport, but not sure what our options are. I had an email exchange with one tour provider, but that didn't seem to be working out. Our cruise line offers an excursion that would be fine except it's only for people with flights 5 p.m. or later.

 

I guess my question is: Can we get a cab at the Red Hook cruise port and ask the cabbie to show us around a little bit, take us on the scenic route, through Manhattan maybe? What would that likely cost? Other ideas?

 

Sorry, but I don't know much about cabs and cabbies, even less about New York.

 

Jim

[njhorseman]

No, you don't want to take a a taxi and ask the driver to give you a tour of New York.

 

The vast majority of NY taxi drivers are immigrants. According to data released by the Taxi and Limousine Commission in late 2013, only 8% of NY's taxi and for-hire drivers were born in the US. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/10/nyregion/american-born-cabbies-a-vanishing-breed-in-city.html

 

What this means is that the vast majority of drivers are likely to have limited knowledge of NY City's sites and history and may speak only broken or heavily accented English.

 

If you want a tour you need a qualified tour guide. Sorry, but I can't recommend one.

 

Also you have less time than you think. Due to a massive construction project at LGA, traffic in and around the airport has been a nightmare at times. You might want to read this newly-started thread, including the NY Times article cited to get an idea of the problems that have arisen.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2395969

[Brighton Line]

No, you don't want to take a a taxi and ask the driver to give you a tour of New York. The vast majority of NY taxi drivers are immigrants.

 

Too echo that a lot of drivers command of English is not that great. Yes they pass the T&LC "English proficiency test" but a lot of them study to pass the test. 40 Questions and must get 21 points out of 40 to pass. If you fail English, you fail the entire test. It's not difficult, even if you don't speak English well. A tape will be played with a person saying 20 different addresses. You simply pick what they said out of a multiple choice answer.

 

Communicating more then the basics may be challenging.

 

And remember without an address given they driver might not know how to get there. Use of cell phone GPS by licensed T&LC driver (that's Uber too) is against T&LC rules but we all know that they do use them but T&LC requires a NYC geography cross street map to be in the car.

 

Wish I could come up with something to share this great city of ours with you.

FWIW

Edited August 29, 2016 by Brighton Line
Spelling

[chengkp75]

Even in the old days, the cabbies were more than willing to "take you for a ride" when they know you don't have any idea where you're going. Gets expensive real quick.

[njhorseman]

Even in the old days, the cabbies were more than willing to "take you for a ride" when they know you don't have any idea where you're going. Gets expensive real quick.

 

And that's why the Taxi and Limousine Commission instituted a flat fare, rather than a metered fare, between JFK and Manhattan. Too many visitors, particularly from foreign countries, were being "taken for a ride" while the meter rolled.

Edited August 29, 2016 by njhorseman

[mking8288]

Going somewhere & try to communicate with the driver behind the wheels in a yellow NYC taxi is going to be "fun" :eek: - now that the Mayor signed the law last Thursday, which the City Council approved earlier.

 

New taxi drivers will no longer need to pass the English test previously required - http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/08/25/english-test-yellow-cab/

 

TLC said only 4% of the current taxi drivers were born in the U.S. - better have that detailed map with directions ready, just in case while going for a ride. And, taxi drivers are not supposed to use a GPS assisted device for navigation.

 

Back to OP's question for Red Hook, Brooklyn - yellow taxis only go there if they are dropping off passengers and I supposed some wait & pickup a fares to go back to street cruising in Manhattan ... or do a longer airport run (JFK or LGA - which will be a slow, long, scenic & possibly expensive metered ride >>> see the other thread, which should be a Sticky/Wiki/411)

 

The lines & wait for a yellow taxi have previously reported to be long ... I go to Ikea nearby sometimes and seldom, if ever, see a taxi "hanging out" or wait @ Ikea. Neighborhood/local and/or citywide car services like Carmel or Dial7 are more common at the Pier - for local drivers, going to LGA or JFK should be perfectly fine. Going to EWR and I would recommend using Dial7 or Carmel.

 

Dial7 and Carmel both do hourly rentals by advance booking, perhaps OP can contact them & ask by telephone or email - easily Google their links online - but, I would come with a list and POI (Points of Interest) with addresses & cross-street; and, let their dispatch base and driver figure out or plan the route first - and come up with estimated time and pricing, etc. ... allowing plenty of time to get to LGA with the traffic mess. If OP needs or likely wish to make a restroom stop somewhere, plan it and let the driver know so s/he can find one for you (they drive for a living & know where the McDonalds are that they can pull into ... or the local, friendly coffee shops, etc.) & work it into the hourly trip schedule.

 

U.S. Tennis is bring (supposingly) 1/2 million visitors to the nearby Flushing area, past LGA airport in the next 2 weeks but it will be over for OP, United Nations General Assembly will be in session so avoid the midtown East area (car service drivers hated it, don't worry - they won't go near the UN)

Edited August 30, 2016 by mking8288

[allentownahoy]

Will the US Open still be going on Sept. 18?

[138east]

Will the US Open still be going on Sept. 18?

 

Ruth - the US Open ends Sep 11.

Edited August 30, 2016 by 138east

[jasbo49]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I didn't mean to drop a question, then disappear without responding, but I had to go out of town to a place with little Internet access.

 

I guess we're down to three options:

 

1. We can still get the cruise line transfers (through today), but we will end up getting to LGA probably five hours before our 2:55 p.m. flight.

 

2. We can arrange for a car service to take us there, and I guess if we do the hourly setup, we could at least drive by some things of interest.

 

3. We could take a cab or car service to Schwartz luggage storage, stash the bags and explore Times Square or Rockefeller Center for a couple hours, then grab the bags and catch a cab to LaGuardia. This is an idea that came up when I posted the same question on Trip Advisor.

 

Again, thanks for the help.

 

Jim

[njhorseman]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I didn't mean to drop a question, then disappear without responding, but I had to go out of town to a place with little Internet access.

 

I guess we're down to three options:

 

1. We can still get the cruise line transfers (through today), but we will end up getting to LGA probably five hours before our 2:55 p.m. flight.

 

2. We can arrange for a car service to take us there, and I guess if we do the hourly setup, we could at least drive by some things of interest.

 

3. We could take a cab or car service to Schwartz luggage storage, stash the bags and explore Times Square or Rockefeller Center for a couple hours, then grab the bags and catch a cab to LaGuardia. This is an idea that came up when I posted the same question on Trip Advisor.

 

Again, thanks for the help.

 

Jim

 

Please give yourself extra time to get to LGA. Because of a major reconstruction project at the airport traffic getting to LGA as well as on the roadways within the airport has been subject to nightmarish delays at times. If you're in Manhattan you should plan on being on the road to LGA no later than three...maybe 3 1/2 hours before your flight's scheduled departure.