<p>We are planning a trip to visit Barnard in NY this summer. We live in Mass so we are planning on driving in. Any info on where to find parking garages from people who have made this same trip would be helpful. Thanks!</p>
<p>How long are you staying in the city? Parking garages are as scarce as hen’s teeth in that part of town, but it is perfectly possible to find unmetered street parking between Broadway and Riverside. My son was living in International House this past year, and I was always able to find parking on Claremont between (roughly) 120 and 123rd Street, or on one of cross streets between Broadway and Riverside. You may have to circle around a bit in the classic looking-for-parking-in-the-city mode, but it is pretty simple and it’s a very pleasant area.</p>
<p>An alternative plan is to drive to the Van Cortlandt subway stop in Riverdale–end of the line–park on the street in the unmetered area, and take the subway to 116th Street. The ride is as short as 30 minutes if you are lucky enough to get a semi-express, or a more standard 40-50 minutes. We did that for Columbia graduation, when there are an extra 30K people in the area, many of whom are trying to park. 
But on a normal day, I’d just drive in, get off at 125th street, and look for parking between Broadway and Riverside.</p>
<p>If your driving in from Mass, here’s a tip:
Park your car somewhere in CT along the Metro-North New Haven line and take the train in.</p>
<p>I’d call Barnard Admissions and ask. They would have the best information for prospective student visitors and may even have some special deals/parking vouchers available.</p>
<p>We were planning just a day trip. We are starting to look a little early. My daughter will be a sophomore in high school this September. We were hoping to go in the 2nd week of July. We are planning on getting a hotel in CT and looking at Wesleyan the next day. From the way the Barnard website looks there are plenty of places to park. I had a feeling it wasn’t as simple as that! </p>
<p>We live in MA and did the trip as well and I highly recommend using some kind of public transportation rather than driving. We took the BOLT bus which was actually really nice in addition to being cheap, but leaving the car in CT, like Stanford, New Haven etc, and taking the commuter rail also makes a lot of sense. Or just take Amtrak to the city - both are great options and easy from the Boston area.
I lived in NYC for 7 years and the one time I borrowed a car for the weekend it was stolen. Obviously that doesn’t always happen, and Consolation seems to have had very good luck driving directly to the city, but I’d say if you don’t have to, don’t. One less worry!
Otherwise, if you are staying in a hotel in the city, ask them about parking overnight - they will have or can suggest something, though it probably will be costly. </p>
<p>My DD goes to Columbia and there was a parking garage a few blocks away.<br>
Just assume you will need to pay $25-$30/day for parking and don’t worry about it.</p>
<p><a href=“http://barnard.edu/visit/parking”>http://barnard.edu/visit/parking</a> tells you about parking garages.</p>
<p>We were able to park at Riverside Church Garage, which is on that list, on move-in day with no trouble. </p>
<p>The BOLT bus is an excellent idea! I had never even heard of it before! Parking in CT is an option too because of visiting Wesleyan after. I don’t know how families manage to visit schools in just the JR year. </p>
<p>I visited Barnard/Columbia three times with my kids. Twice we came by car on a weekend, and had no real trouble parking (once on the street, once in a garage). The other time we were in NYC for a few days and took the subway up from the Village. It’s really not something to stress over. Yes, if you have to park in a garage, it will be $30 (and don’t forget the exorbitant bridge/tunnel fees for getting into Manhattan in the first place). Yes, there are many, many public transportation options for getting into and out of New York, including Amtrak, Bolt (or Megabus), and the New Haven commuter rail line, and yes the 1-train 116th Street stop is literally on Barnard’s doorstep. Get there any way you like.</p>
<p>My daughter just graduated from Barnard and I live in New Haven CT. Best plan is to park at the West Haven Metro North Train station and take the train to 125th st stop in NYC. Then cab it to Barnard. Many of the train station parking lots along the metro north corridor fill up, are expensive, or have little parking, but the West Haven station is brand new, with plenty of safe parking for only $6.00 for the day - it is never full. Then on the way back, it is just a quick 40 minute trip to Wesleyan. You do not want to drive between New Haven and NYC - the traffic is absolutely horrendous. </p>
<p>I’ve driven between New Haven and NYC a lot - traffic doesn’t seem that bad to me. Parking on the upper West Side is generally not too difficult and I’ve parked in the parking garage at least once too. Driving in NYC is easy since nearly every street is one way.</p>
<p>Yeah, I recommend taking either the bus or amtrak. The train ride is absolutely gorgeous from Mass. to Mann. Parking might be pricey depending on where you go, but you will definitely find many garages. Especially if you just go for one day. The choice of hotels (if you are interested) are not that great that far uptown, but you might find a diamond in the rough. But you have many options :)</p>
<p>Just a quick note about trains to NYC. There is Amtrak - which is relatively expensive and only stops at major stops like New Haven, Bridgeport etc and then there is the commuter line, which is Metro North, which is cheaper and makes more stops at places like West Haven and Milford, where there is better and cheaper parking. I recommend Metro North from West Haven without a doubt. And as for the traffic between NYC and New Haven, it is usually not bad on weekends, and can be ok at off hours if there is no construction, but if you try to go INTO the city on a weekday in the morning rush, or leave the city between 4p and 6p, the traffic gets pretty jammed up. It is actually not so bad in NY state, but it is often bumper to bumper throughout most of southwestern ct. </p>
<p>Thanks for all of this information! I am so glad I happened upon this site. </p>
<p>Agree that driving in should not be a problem from CT, on a weekend or away from rush hours.
And that the biggest holdups may well be heading back north, through some parts of Connecticut.
But usually it’s no huge problem.</p>
<p>When I used to go there for D2, I usually cut over to the west side in Westchester (via Cross County Parkway) to the Saw Mill, which turns into the Henry Hudson. Much faster than going east to west in NYC. It’s easy to get to Barnard from there. Outside of rush hours. </p>
<p>Driving is not hard around that part of Manhattan. Parking is though, often. If you discover a space on your way fine, but otherwise,suggest once you get there you should probably head straight for one of the linked garages. I never had a problem. One can hit GWB-related congestion on the Henry Hudson if near rush hours.(or theater hours). So don’t go then.</p>
<p>As for the train, at the MTA 125th St station the trick is to get crosstown to/from Barnard. There is a bus, which takes a while. Else have to taxi. Not sure how easy they always are to get, on the way back. D2 usually went the longer way, to Grand Central then subway, shuttle to train up the west side. No bus or taxi that way. Amtrak goes in to Penn station, which at least is on the right side of the city. Then can take the 1 train.</p>
<p>The Riverside Church garage mentioned above by 2016 Barnard Mom is extremely convenient. Train, subway etc. have all gotten so expensive that for two-three people, it’s easier and often cheaper to drive in to the city and park in a garage for a day trip. I hate driving in Manhattan generally but Barnard is an easy location to access via car. </p>
<p>I think the choice of driving or public transportation is basically a personal choice. For me taking a train is fun while being on a bus or driving are about the same. Driving into Barnard is not particularly bad if you don’t hate city driving and parking on the street is not that tough (all this is IMO).</p>
<p>I basically live in Boston and my daughter has graduated from Barnard. Driving from my house to Barnard is faster than a train or a bus, costs less if multiple people are going, involves a total of about 10 turns (door-to-door), and involves about 1/2 mile of driving on a city streets (on Broadway … a major avenue). If you don’t mind driving it’s easy as long as you can avoid rush hour. In four years I found free on the street parking on all the trips other than one where I needed to pay $25-$40 for a parking garage. We didn’t visit a lot during the semester so these visits were all the standard trips … beginning and ending of semesters … beginning and ending of breaks … start of first year and graduation. In other words the times with the absolute most cars are headed to Barnard (and Columbia) and I found on street parking every time but one … and typically with 1/2 mile of the Barnard Campus.</p>
<p>Yeah actually I exaggerated the difficulty of parking right around there, The fact is, I only had to park in a lot once myself. The parking situation is, actually, quite difficult for the upper west side in general, especially south and east of there. In my experience, But right around Barnard one can get more fortunate.</p>
<p>I just figured someone driving from out of town might not relish driving around much looking for a space, And might miss one of the “no parking” signs. Hence might be better off garaging. But I was too lazy to say all that,</p>
<p>I guess I still have a bad taste in my mouth from the very last time I parked near there myself, collecting D2 from her dorm. I didn’t see a “no parking” sign, which was located down the block a significant distance away, and was rewarded with a nice juicy ticket. I was subconsciously hoping to save an out of towner from sharing in my agony. Probably. But if one is careful to check all the parking signs, they need not share that fate…</p>
<p>We had a very successful visit and we ended up driving in. We stayed in a hotel in NJ that was just outside the city. It took us 15 minutes to get to Barnard and find a parking space. We we there around 8:30 AM on a Monday. We had time to walk around the Columbia Campus and check out the general area before the tour and admissions talk. Thanks for all the help! </p>