Moving Tips for Your First NYC Move
Moving into New York City for the first time is a very special event in your life, you only get to do it once. I’m not going to say “Don’t screw it up”, because there’s a lot of joy associated with this move, and it would be heavy handed to temper that joy with a severe parental tone, since for a lot of us, that’s exactly what we might be escaping! However this move is nothing like any move you’ve ever made in your life.
Picture this: There’s 12 million people that live in the NYC metro area, and about 1.7 million live on the island of Manhattan. All of them have lived there longer than you and there are a complex set of rules, laws and street regulations that even put our most veteran drivers into fits of anger. So be aware of the potential pitfalls while planning and executing your move into NYC.
The Traffic Rules Are Different
First of all, for you do-it-yourselfers: renting a truck is an economical way to move into the City, unless you get ticketed, booted, towed, or take a parkway instead of a highway and shear the roof off your rental truck. In order to avoid these unsavory outcomes, I suggest planning your route backwards from your destination to your pick up location. Starting with the block you are moving onto, check out the parking regulations, and places where you might be able to legally unload. Instead of double parking in front of your building, choose the nearest No Standing zone to park your truck, and figure out how many sets of hands you’ll need to safely transport your goods from that point to your door. You could still get a ticket, but if you take the rental agreement to the hearing, your ticket will most likely be dismissed. Don’t park in a hydrant space. You’ll get a ticket, and it won’t be excused.
Don’t Park in a Bus Lane
A bus stop zone begins at the bus stop sign and extends in the direction of the arrow(s) until the next parking sign or the end of the block. Don’t park in a bike lane either. You’ll never get out of those three tickets, and if you double park, some truck will come by and either shear off your mirror, or scrape the side of your truck. Remember, you’re new here, and everybody knows it, and you just might be moving into a better neighborhood that that driver who just went by. Welcome to NYC!
Plan Your Route
To continue charting your course, plot the route paying particular attention to Truck Routes. This is very important! If you Google, or Waze your route, the GPS will find you your most efficient path –as if you were a car, not a truck. You can’t take the FDR Drive, or the Harlem River Drive, or the Jackie Robinson Parkway, or The Brooklyn Bridge. The savvy mover avoids these common rookie mistakes, all resulting in big tickets, and long delays while the officer talks smack about last night’s Mets game, er, runs your license for any unpaid tickets that could result in your license being suspended, which means they’ll impound the truck but I digress. The most important thing to do while driving into the City is to abide by the truck routes.
