Don’t Ditch Your Car Yet! The Case For Driving In NYC

Katherine Ripley • December 8, 2015

Don't Ditch Your Car Yet! The Case For Driving In NYC

Conventional wisdom will tell you that owning a car in NYC is more of a burden than a convenience, but there are benefits to owning a car in the city that you might not have thought of. Here are 5 uses for a car in NYC:

1. Take Day/Weekend Trips

If you feel like you need to get away from the city for a little while, a car is the most convenient way to take a weekend trip to Long Island, or the Jersey shore, or the Poconos.

2. Rent It Out

Maybe don’t do this for just random strangers. But if your friend’s cousin really wants to go camping this weekend and needs wheels, charge him $50 a day to use it. If you have a truck or a van, you can rent it out to people who are moving.

3. Drive When Public Transit Prices Spike

Everyone knows Amtrak jacks up their prices at the holidays. It will take you much longer to get out of Manhattan in your car, but the toll prices for the tunnels and the bridges don’t change.

4. Storage Space

If you don’t have any more space in your apartment, and you don’t want to rent a storage unit, just keep things in your vehicle.

5. Cell Phone Charging Station

If the power goes out due to a snowstorm, or thunderstorm or a hurricane, you don’t have to worry about losing your connection to the Internet, and therefore, to the outside world.

Cover photo credit: John Gillespie/Flickr

Tags: Adventure, Life hacks