<p>We did this drive this summer, unless you have a burning desire to see NYC, if you avoid the metro area by taking I80/I81/84. I don't have a map and we were coming from Albany, not Poughkeepsie, but you take the Tappan Zee bridge and then cut west. It is an OK drive, although lots of trucks, and you not only miss NYC, but Wash and Baltimore and Philly, so it is much faster.</p>