Distance from SUNYs to NYC

Colleges and Universities A-Z SUNY - General
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<p>There are fairly frequent posts on CC from students and parents wondering how close SUNY XYZ is from Manhattan. In many cases there is a presumption (hope?) that because its a State University of New York school its a quick train ride to Manhattan. The reality is very different, as I've attempted to demonstrate below. All of the SUNY campuses have a lot going on in their own right, of course, and offer amenities and attractions in nearby communities. But if its frequent trips to NYC for shopping and nightlife you're pretty much limited to New Paltz, Purchase and the Long Island SUNYs.</p>

<p>I've listed below the SUNY research universities and colleges, along with the mileage to the Oak Bar at the Plaza Hotel (yes, I doubt this will be a destination for many students, but it is a favorite of mine and will be reopening in a month or two), average drive time, and the availability (or lack thereof) of rail service. I hope this is of some help to those who are considering to attend college in NYS:
University at Albany (153 miles, 2 hours, 45 minutes) Frequent Amtrak service from Rensselaer to Penn Station </p>

<p>University at Binghamton (185 miles, 3 hours, 25 minutes) No rail service available</p>

<p>University at Buffalo (437 miles, 7 hours, 15 minutes via NYS Thruway) Amtrak from Buffalo-Depew </p>

<p>University at Stony Brook (60 miles, 1 hour, 20 minutes in light traffic) Long Island Railroad (Port Jefferson line) service available from Stony Brook)</p>

<p>Brockport (398 miles, 6 hours, 45 minutes via NYS Thruway) Amtrak from Rochester</p>

<p>Buffalo State (443 miles, 7 hours, 25 minutes via NYS Thruway) Amtrak from Buffalo</p>

<p>Cortland (328 miles, 5 hours, 40 minutes via NYS Thruway) Amtrak from Syracuse</p>

<p>Environmental Science & Forestry at Syracuse (300 miles, 5 hours, 10 minutes via NYS Thruway) Amtrak service available from Syracuse</p>

<p>Farmingdale (36 miles, 1 hour in light traffic) Long Island Railroad (Ronkonkoma line) service available from Farmongdale</p>

<p>Fredonia (481 miles, 8 hours, 10 minutes via NYS Thruway) Amtrak from Buffalo</p>

<p>Geneseo (400 miles, 6 hours, 45 minutes via NYS Thruway) Amtrak from Rochester</p>

<p>New Paltz (81 miles, 1 hour, 30 minutes) Metro North rail service from Poughkeepsie</p>

<p>Old Westbury (23 miles, 40 minutes in light traffic) Long Island Railroad service available from Hicksville</p>

<p>Oneonta (204 miles, 3 hours, 45 minutes) No rail service available nearby</p>

<p>Oswego (329 miles, 5 hours, 45 minutes via NYS Thruway) Amtrak from Syracuse</p>

<p>Plattsburgh (315 miles, 5 hours, 15 minutes) Infrequent Amtrak service available from Plattsburgh</p>

<p>Potsdam (371 miles, 6 hours, 50 minutes) No rail service available nearby</p>

<p>Purchase (28 miles, 45 minutes in light traffic) Metro North service available from White Plains</p>

<p>NOTE: For SUNY colleges and universities WEST of Syracuse, as well as for Oswego, ESF and Cortland, time and distance can be saved by taking alternative routes. This most commonly involves taking I-81 south to Scranton, PA, then I-84 and I-380 to I-80 at Stroudsburg, PA, then east to NYC.</p>

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<p>hudsonvalley51: Perhaps the Oak Bar should be our next CC destination spot!</p>

<p>The Stony Brook Railroad station is adjacent to campus. You can walk or jump on a loop bus.</p>

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<p>Thanks!!!! What a great resource, even though as downstate NYers my kid and I are well aware that most SUNYs are very cold and distant. I didn't know Buffalo had trains; must look that up.</p>

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<p>Great info. Thanks for posting.</p>

<p>Chris</p>

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<p>Buses are also available from many of the SUNYs and Buffalo-JFK is a good flight route.</p>

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<p>Ive taken the amtrak from NYC(Penn) to Buffalo and have never had it taken less than 8.5 hours.</p>

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<p>While not a "research" university, SUNY Maritime is located on a safe peninsula in the Bronx by the Throggs Neck Bridge. The marine and environmental engineers take an express bus into "The City" and can reach the Plaza in under an hour. Bus to Subway also works, but takes longer.</p>

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<p>i love how you qualify all the long island driving times with "in light traffic!" of course, for anyone who doesn't already know -- the chances of finding light traffic on long island are not great!!</p>

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<p>Thanks for pointing out that oversight. Of course, the drive times for Potsdam and Plattsburgh may be adversely effected by heavy rush hour traffic.</p>

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<p>Plattsburgh to NYC. You can take a taxi from SUNY Plattsburgh to the Burlington Int. Airport (there's a ferry) then take one of many flights from Burlington to NYC. I'm not saying that's what most kids do, but it is an option.</p>

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<p>Just discovered a new transportation option...the megabus. It runs from NYC to Binghamton, Buffalo and Toronto a few times each day and is very reasonable. In fact if you book far in advance tickets are as low as $1.00. D just got back from NYC to Buffalo on a double decker megabus, they made only one stop at Wendy's for food and made it in 7 hours each way, and cost only $80 roundtrip.</p>

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<p>How do students who attend SUNY Oswego get to NYC on holiday breaks? We are not from NY.</p>

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<p>IIRC, there is public transportation (Centro bus) available to Syracuse (regional transporation center - bus/rail) for students wanting to go home. Not sure how to get to airport. I think I found it on the regional public transportation website.</p>

<p>Not sure if this link will work...</p>

<p><a href="http://www.centro.org/webpdf/oswego.aspx%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.centro.org/webpdf/oswego.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Thanks. This bus schedule looks ridiculous for the airport or amtrak. It looks like a very expensive cab ride to Amtrak IMO. It does not seem as though student services (or whatever it might be called) organizes a bus to the airport/amtrak, or downstate for breaks.</p>

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<p>It is hard to believe that a student who lives in NYC or LI, or a fair distance away, has to either take a 2 hour bus ride to get to Amtrak or the airport, or will need to pay through the nose for a cab to get to the airport or amtrak. Oswego does not seem to offer a shuttle service, even for a fee, on breaks. This adds a lot to more $$ to the COA.</p>

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<p>Where I live, the public universities do not arrange airport transportation, so it doesn't surprise me with Oswego. I think privates do a much better job of looking after their customers in this regard.</p>

<p>Looking at the Centro website, for the size of the population centers, the public bus actually does a pretty good job of intercity service compared with all the places I've lived (west, midwest, and south). And I ride the bus to work myself.</p>

<p>You are right to consider the cost and convenience of break travel arrangements when considering distant schools. Not very many parents think of that before applying.</p>

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<p>Though there is no train up to SUNY Binghamton, both Greyhound and Shortline/Coach USA run daily buses down to NYC. Shortline is around $75 round-trip, takes you right to the Port Authority, and coming back to campus from the terminal is a $7 cab ride (you'll be sharing the cab with several other people), or a short walk to a city bus stop where there's a bus back to campus (as I recall). There's also ESCAPE, a student-organized bus service which has a bus down to the Port Authority in NYC every weekend, and to several other NYC-area locations over long weekends and breaks. Their website can be found at Binghamton</a> University's Student-Run Bus Company.</p>

<p>A cab from campus to the airport is $20.</p>

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<p>you failed to mention bus services. All of the universities and most of the colleges have buses from penn station to the school.</p>

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<p>vahevala Do you know if the megabus is adequately insured or have assets which could be reached in the event of a judgment obtained resulting from an accident? I have wondered how the "Chinatown" buses also manage to be so inexpensive in comparison to Greyhound, Trailways, Shortline, etc.</p>

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<p>Readercc, Megabus is actually a subsidiary of Coach USA. They're safe and reliable.</p>