Public Transit to Red Hook - A Primer!

[NVanHiker]

This post is obviously not for everyone, but if you're like me and travel light (we once did a 21-day Panama Canal with one carry-on each, but that's a whole other topic.) (And it involves scrunch-able clothes and washing my wife's unmentionables in the sink on a regular basis)...

 

...and if you're the frugal type and/or enjoy the challenge of planning routes using the great resources on the web these days...

 

Anyway, EWR is our favorite New York airport, so our adventure starts there with a free shuttle to the Robert Treat hotel in beautiful downtown Newark. (Such a deal). The next morning, a decent free breakfast, a leisurely stroll in the September sunshine over to Newark Penn Station, and a four-dollar ticket to NY Penn.

 

Next, a quick subway ride on the A train over to Jay St-Borough Hall station in Brooklyn. We hadn't been to downtown Brooklyn before so walked around a bit before jumping on a B61 bus [signed Red Hook-IKEA] right nearby at Jay and Willoughby. Per the recommendation of NYC Transit's Trip Planner, we got off 15 minutes later at Van Brunt & Summit and walked into the Terminal area.

 

This is a 1/2 mile walk and was fine on a sunny day, but on our return we found a bus stop much closer to the passenger area, on Van Brunt near Pioneer...

 

After scarfing down a final free and filling breakfast on the Caribbean Princess, (oh, I know what you're thinking - 'I'll bet these cheapskates book inside cabins, too' - and you'd be right) we turned our backs to the bow of the ship and walked in a straight line east, following a pedestrian opening the the perimiter fence and continuing down Pioneer Street two short blocks to Van Brunt. The B61 runs frequently along here, stopping at almost every block, north to Brooklyn from it's turnaround at IKEA just to the south.

 

It turns out that the notorious Red Hook is now in danger of becoming gentrified, but is currently a delightful mixed neighbourhood (mixed income, mixed race, mixed language, mixed sexual orientation...) of the kind that New York does so well, and we spent about half an hour walking around before boarding the bus.

 

Now here's a tip - for a one-hour tour better than anything you could pay Grey Line for, stay on the B61 [signed LI City] and ride it to the end of the line in Long Island City, which will put you opposite midtown Manhattan, a quick subway ride away. Every couple of blocks puts you in a different neighbourhood, from project housing to Orthodox Jewish to artsy-fartsy to working class. If this were a shore excursion you'd think it was money well-spent!

[smeyer418]

LOL I have pointed out before this is a safe and up coming neighborhood...its biggest hold back is the lack of mass fast transit(the subway)....IKEA added a ferry whioch people have been using greatly and its fun too...

 

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbsWrRu1ctGkx

 

 

here is the pictures of Red Hook and the Pier and the entrance at Imlay and Pioneer(which I have pointed out before is the walk in entrance)

[NVanHiker]

Ah, a kindred spirit. I read and enjoyed your listing of places of interest around Red Hook in one of your previous postings.

 

I should have had the presence of mind to shoot a photo down Pioneer -perfect! Looks like the QM2 docked? But who needs rapid transit? Fast, schmast, I say... smell the roses and drink a bottle of Mayim Chaim. Oy!

[138east]

This is some great information! The Robert Treat Hotel really looks like a fantastic alternative for folks who are looking for a reasonable hotel room with NY transportation. A free shuttle to the airport as well as Penn Station is huge. The reviews on Trip Adviser were good as well. People seemed to feel comfortable with the area.

 

Did you consider taking the PATH train to the World Trade Center and walking through to the Chambers St or Broadway-Nassau stations to pick up the A train to Brooklyn? That would save you a couple of bucks plus it's a more direct route to Brooklyn.

[smeyer418]

Ah, a kindred spirit. I read and enjoyed your listing of places of interest around Red Hook in one of your previous postings.

 

I should have had the presence of mind to shoot a photo down Pioneer -perfect! Looks like the QM2 docked? But who needs rapid transit? Fast, schmast, I say... smell the roses and drink a bottle of Mayim Chaim. Oy!

 

 

while slow mass transit is fine for tourists, people who have to work every day need fast transit to and from their homes. The subway(especially when it has four tracks and expresses) allow NY city to bring vast numbers of people quickly and cheaply and ecologically to the business centers. Buses are slow(even with Bus rapid transit) and not as clean.

So for an area to grow effectively, effective fast and inexpensive mass transit is essential...but there are still people who think all of NY City is unsafe and Sodom and Gomorrah.

[NVanHiker]

138 you're probably right - we tend to stay in familiar ruts and Penn Station has always felt like my 'gateway' to NYC.

 

Meyers - Sodom and Gemorrah, feh - you say that like it's a bad thing... Never been to Gemorrah (doesn't that always sound like it should be in County Cork?) but I did make a memorable trip to Plato's Retreat back in the day...

[franu]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I remember Red Hook as having the connotation "Hell".

 

I liked meeting a friend for lunch as she worked in the area. The food was simple but out of this world and easy on the budget. I shopped some of the Italian Fruit & Vegetable stores where I got recipes with each new veggie I tried. I was always checking out new areas and love watching people.

 

The photos blew my mind as they look as though Mr. Clean had a family reunion. I would never have recognised this as Red Hook.

 

PS As a teen I lived in Long Island City and sometimes walked the 59 St. bridge to Manhattan.

 

This has been wonderful. You have brightened my day.

Fran

[GTJ]

Next month (January 2010) MTA New York City Transit divides the B61 bus route into two parts. The new borough bus map depicting the revised service is now available for viewing on the MTA website. http://mta.info/nyct/maps/busbkln.pdf

 

The part of the route that goes to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook will continue to be labeled as route B61 (the other part of the route will be renumbered B62), but there will be a change in the routing within downtown Brooklyn. No longer will passengers wait for the bus on the west side of Jay Street. Instead, the revised B61 will have a stand on the east side of Smith Street, between Livingston and Fulton Streets. This stand is convenient to most subways in downtown Brooklyn, including the 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C, F, G, M, and R trains.

 

In Red Hook, the B61 will continue to serve the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal at its existing stops along Van Brunt Street (at Verona Street or King Street to the Terminal; at Pioneer Street from the terminal).