Updated NYC port guide

Tom Sheridon has just released his updated FREE port guide for NYC. This frequent cruiser spends 60 hours a week creating port guides of ports all over the world for fellow cruisers. You cannot buy his guides and they are better than many that you can buy. He includes photos, maps, walking tours and GPS coordinates for many locations in these multi page guides. The latest (NYC) is 29 pages. You can access all of them by adding the normal .com to toms port guides (all one word). What a wonderful resource he is to fellow cruisers and with no remuneration! Hopefully this post will not be taken off as it is NOT an advertisement!

Enjoy!

I have not looked thru everything but there significant errors in the taxi section.

as examples NY CITY yellow cabs use the meter from JFK to the Manhattan cruise terminal but it should always be the set fare of$52.5 plus the toll only if they use the midtown tunnel of $5.33 not the toll listed on most of the JFK/LGA runs.

The taxi info from EWR is also wrong

see for example

http://www.panynj.gov/airports/ewr-taxi-car-van-service.html

http://web.mta.info/bandt/traffic/btmain.html

http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/html/passenger/taxicab_rate.shtml

To/From JFK and any location in Manhattan:

• Onscreen rate is ‘Rate #02 – JFK Airport.’
  
• This is a flat fare of $52 plus tolls, the 50-cent MTA State Surcharge, and the 30-cent Improvement Surcharge.
  
• Passenger is responsible for paying all tolls.
  
• Please tip your driver for safety and good service.
  

the tolls across the bridges and tunnels to and from NJ are 9.75 off peak and more peak are with ez pass only. its 14,00 cash. this amount is the same for cabs or car services.-from to ewr to nyc.

within nyc the tolled bridges and tunnels are 5.33 with ezpass or 7.50 cash. ny yellow cabs must have an e-zpass. there are no tolls-or shouldn't be from either JFK or LGA`to the Brooklyn cruise terminal.

ny city yellow cabs are not required to take you from either JFK or LGA to the bayonne cruise terminal and if they do agree to the fare must be negotiated in advance and it isn't on the meter. they are required to take you to EWR...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2091976

good discussion about the brooklyn cruise terminal,,,

Sid I'm also not happy with the taxi fare section. I met someone on my current cruise who had used the taxi fare finder to get an estimated rate from a Newark Airport hotel to Cape Liberty for about $27 and was unhappy when she was charged $55, which is a normal rate that others have reported paying.

Sid I'm also not happy with the taxi fare section. I met someone on my current cruise who had used the taxi fare finder to get an estimated rate from a Newark Airport hotel to Cape Liberty for about $27 and was unhappy when she was charged $55, which is a normal rate that others have reported paying.

the taxi fare finder is a mileage and NY City yellow cab rate computer application. Its almost always light on the actual charge(again IMO). Its almost always wrong in NJ where its mostly based on flat fares. Fares in NJ are significantly higher IMO than in NY City.

I know I have seen fares like this listed on here but having lived in this area my whole life I find it shocking to pay $55 from EWR to Bayonne! Its a ten min ride. I don't pay that for car service to/from the airport and I am about 20-25 mins away. I also wonder if people have tried Uber. You would most likely get a better rate and you would know and agree to it up front.

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I know I have seen fares like this listed on here but having lived in this area my whole life I find it shocking to pay $55 from EWR to Bayonne! Its a ten min ride. I don't pay that for car service to/from the airport and I am about 20-25 mins away. I also wonder if people have tried Uber. You would most likely get a better rate and you would know and agree to it up front.

 

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My daughter lives in Manhattan and she swears by Uber. She uses them to go to JFK and EWR also.

for those who don't know UBER is a company that uses a smartphone application to match cars and passengers. In the NY/NJ area they use the same car services that you can call on the telephone. Its ok and convenient. The problem arises when they impose what they call surge pricing-a surcharge as much as 300 percent when it deems a shortage

The cab/taxi fare from EWR to Bayonne is set by two different commissions Jersey City and Newark. The car services just follow that for the most part.

I haven't seen the surge pricing that you are referring to but wouldn't that still be presented up front? My husband uses it a lot in NYC and several friends in Hoboken/Jersey City area swear by it. Last night, I entered EWR to Bayonne and was able to get a range from $22-70 depending on type of vehicle.

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I would have no problem with using Uber in NY City because the Taxi and Limousine Commission requires all Uber vehicles/drivers to be affiliated with a licensed base operator, meaning at the least the driver is properly licensed and is covered by insurance meeting minimum standards.

However, I'm not so sure I would use Uber, particularly UberX in New Jersey, because there is no enforcement of proper licensing and insurance requirements for UberX drivers, and there likely won't be until state law is amended to allow municipalities to enforce such requirements. If you're a passenger injured in an UberX car involved in an accident you may find out there is no insurance to compensate you for your injuries.

Here's an article about Hoboken cracking down on what they consider to be unlawful Uber operations:

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2014/08/hoboken_residents_who_use_uber_risk_being_forced_out_of_their_ride_by_cops.html

Here are other articles about the problem and pending legislation:

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/12/11/n-j-bill-would-require-permits-for-uber-other-ride-sharing-companies/

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/08/28/hoboken-police-lawmakers-putting-the-brakes-on-uber/

I would have no problem with using Uber in NY City because the Taxi and Limousine Commission requires all Uber vehicles/drivers to be affiliated with a licensed base operator, meaning at the least the driver is properly licensed and is covered by insurance meeting minimum standards

That said T&LC suspended 5 our of the 6 Uber bases in NYC in January for non-compliance. If your base was suspended you had to transfer to the one that wasn't.

In NYC you need:

T&LC FHV License

TLC Licensed Vehicle (Uber will rent you one) with TLC Plates AND Diamond Sticker

Base Transfer (Means you need to be affiliated with a base/diamond sticker)

Base Letter, what you have to have to get the insurance

TLC Licensed Insurance minimum $100k/$300K person/occurrence

Uber still advertises "Drive with Uber, No base transfer necessary" but that does not apply in NYC.

FWIW

That said T&LC suspended 5 our of the 6 Uber bases in NYC in January for non-compliance. If your base was suspended you had to transfer to the one that wasn't.

...

FWIW

and reinstated the licenses the next day. The "non-compliance" was Uber refusal to turn over data demanded by the TLC when Uber refused there was laughter because Uber han't dealt much with the TLC. the next day they suspended the licenses. Uber then went to court but was told comply or stay suspended...and they worked something out with the TLC. The TLC uses the data to determine if the Limo service is in compliance.

Somehow my original post about what I considered a great port guide to NYC has evolved into just a taxi discussion. Tom Sheridan has spent countless hours putting his great guides together( of ports all over the world). By posting about this his latest, I just wanted folks to be aware of them and appreciate all the hard work he has done for all cruisers for free. If you have corrections to make please contact him directly so he can revise his guides. Posting here on this thread may not get back to him. Please take the time to check out his numerous other guides containing photos, maps, GPS coordinates and much more.

these comments are on the accuracy of the Taxi section of his post. If you want you can send him a link to these, after all its you are vouching for the accuracy and his hard work. No one here disputes that only that some of the information is just wrong. If people look at his post on the NY Port, its helpful if it is as accurate as possible.

Personally I don't even use Uber. I rather book a car service, like Dial 7. They tell you the fare upfront and have been very reliable

Somehow my original post about what I considered a great port guide to NYC has evolved into just a taxi discussion. Tom Sheridan has spent countless hours putting his great guides together( of ports all over the world). By posting about this his latest, I just wanted folks to be aware of them and appreciate all the hard work he has done for all cruisers for free. If you have corrections to make please contact him directly so he can revise his guides. Posting here on this thread may not get back to him. Please take the time to check out his numerous other guides containing photos, maps, GPS coordinates and much more.

There are also other inaccuracies I found immediately...and I haven't yet spent the time to read every word of the guide.

He says someone driving in to the cruise terminal has to pay a $35 parking charge to drop off their passengers, which we know isn't true....you only pay $35 if you wish to park your car in the lot. It doesn't cost a dime to drive up the entrance doors of the cruise piers and drop off your passengers.

He has a problem confusing the pedestrian entrance to Pier 92 at 12th Ave and 52nd St. (which of the three cruise terminal piers is the least often used anyway, with almost all ships docking at 88 or 90, which have their pedestrian entrances at 48th and 50th Sts., respectively) with the entrance to what he calls the "parking garage" (really parking lots), which is actually at 12th Ave and 55th St.

Transportation and parking questions are two of the most common topics we spend time on here. When someone gets those wrong we react because accuracy of advice is important. We're dealing with factual issues, not opinions such as who makes the best pizza in NY City.

Good intentions and hard work are admirable, but they don't trump the need for factual accuracy.