I will be attending the IDSA Northeast “Beyond” conference next month, and not having spent a lot of time in New York in the past I’m not sure what would be the easiest way to get to Pratt from Raleigh, North Carolina. I’ll probably stay at the hotel listed on the conference website, but any advice about airports, cabs, subways, or horse-drawn carts would be greatly appreciated. Heck, a couch might work swell, too!
Thanks,
mothman
I guess I’ll just fly into Syracuse and take a taxi to Pratt. I found a cheap room in Hartford so it shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll see you guys at Pratt! Thanks!
mothy
If this is a joke, it’s a good one! Made me laugh out loud!!
If it’s not a joke, dude, I strongly advise you to look at the mile measurments on your map. Syracuse is like a 6-7 hour drive to NYC my freind, no taxi will drive that, not that you would want to pay that meter! Also Harford, going to be a 4 hour drive to NYC, you’ve got to take 84 to the NY threway, or 9 down to 95, it would be hell to stay in Hartford, plus that town sucks.
Re-look at the travel plans!!!
you could do what most won’t these days and take greyhound. I love taking the bus except when its delayed or 5 hours-or when u are sitting next to people on phones all night-but that happens in all ways of mass transporation. Go to greyhound online. find a station near you and purchase the tickets 7 DAYS IN ADVANCE will save u atleast 20 bucks-amd u will need that money for stuff in nyc. Then you will arrive in NYC Port Athority. It is a lil confusing at first to find where you need to go but f you just walk to street level there are rows of taxi’s to service you. Or if you fill confident and want to save money take the subway. i am not sure where in BK pratt is ? also there are many hotels in manhatten. But didn’t Pratt send you a packet of possible locations to stay in or best ways to get the the place? that would seem like the professional thing to do especially when u are expecting prople to arrive to the city for he 1st time—
hope all wrks out- save money TAKE THE BUS—
I spent several years in high school and college in CT, so thankfully I do know my way around New England. My wisea$$ response was in response to the lack of responses from my original post. I ended up getting a flight into Newark on Friday morning before the conference, and I ponied up to stay at the recommended hotel on the IDSA Beyond website. Sure it means that my children won’t be able to attend college someday, but if it lands me a job it will have been worth it. The track record of constructive things coming out of IDSA conferences (at least at the Southeast IDSA conferences I’ve attended in the past) has not been that great, however. But I am way up for this one…way up!
Thanks for your responses,
mothy
Have you called Pratt before you got here?
The school may offer a room ($) for person who visit IDSA. I heard somethings that students with their own apartments in Brooklyn might want to share the space with the visitor for few days also ($). I am not sure how it works, but there were some suggestions sometime ago. So give it a try.
If you like hotel, there are plenty near NYC. I think Newark is okay for the transportation, but you can also get hotel in Jersey City where you can take subway and get to Pratt in 30-40mins.
Sorry that I can’t help you much.
Usually the host school will allow visiting students to stay in their dorms for an extra cheap rate.
good joke, it certainly got you some responses.
I believe Pratt is also arranging homestays with current students or recent grads in the area. You still have to pay, but its way less than a hotel. Check with the organizers and see if you can find out anything.
Thanks again, everyone. I’ll get on the horn on Monday to the IDSA Beyond folks and Pratt to see what I can turn up. I’m just glad I don’t have to swing the fare from Syracuse to Brooklyn.
mothy
Ps. Yo, Hartford is coming back. At least it’s not in Rhode Island…
C’mon, Providence rocks Hartford every day of the week! If I had to live on the east coast I would go RI!
Wonder what the cab fare is from Warwick to Pratt? 
Oops. Sorry. Did I just type that out loud? I will say that Providence has a pretty sweet airport. Clean, classy, and intimate. Just like Austin’s. You could certainly end up in worse places than Providence. I bet municipalities all over this great land of ours are looking to elect a [slightly] corrupt mayor to revitalize their own downtown. If only the ID firm in Providence I keep trying to get a hold of would return my calls…
mothy
Yeah, Hartford rocks! The insurance capital of the world is booming…with uber rich folks, the poor and downtrodden, and almost no middle class. I did manage to pose as a U of Hartford student for a while and gain free access to their athletic facilities, so the 3 month stay wasn’t all bad…
And while I don’t disagree with Yo, I’d say RISD grads are probably a bit biased on the Providence vs Hartford argument. 
guilty, I’m Italian too so I’m double biased.
That hotel for the conference is expensive (avg by NY standards). Did they mention that it is about 45 min away from Pratt? If you are willing to go the route of a shared-bathroom hotel, you could save some $$. Chelsea Inn (not Chelsea Hotel – the Inn on 17th st.) is nice, small and cheap – you just have to call to see if they have anything available. There is also Hotel 17, Pickwick Arms, and Gershwin – I’ve never stayed in them and I’m sure they are not posh, but perfectly fine for a couple of nights.
There is also this B&B in Brooklyn: http://www.awesome-bed-and-breakfast.com/. Don’t know anything about it, but it is close to Pratt. You could actually walk to Pratt from there (though, the neighborhood is not perfectly safe at night) or catch a cab. You will probably need directions for the cabbie as they don’t always know Brooklyn too well. Just print out a mapquest map, just in case, and you will be OK.
You could also check priceline to see if you could get a deal on the Adam St. Marriot in brooklyn.
and oh… btw – the G Train… you should know about the G Train. It sucks. If you are coming from the city you will need to take a train to Brooklyn and then transfer to the G train. Last time I did this (for my Pratt interview) the whole line was disrupted, rerouted, and generall F-ed up. Of course none of the changes were posted at the station and if you ask anyone ESPECIALLY a subway worker they will look at you like you are crazy and annoying and then manage to further confuse you. Maybe everything will be cleared up by April – just be prepared for frustration.
Ian,
Thanks for the advice. I’m all over your suggestions and hope to book a room in the Chelsea Inn today. I’m glad I’m not planning a trip to Europe, because I’m sure I would have booked a hotel in Kashgar by now.
With kindest regards,
mothy
thats 4 blocks away from where I live-about
crazy–
good luck on the trains-I m used to it-are you here for a week or how many days? I am just wondering because you will need to purchase a metro card, so you can take the NYC bus an subway. If you are going to be here more an 3 or 4 days and are going to be on the train alot, I suggest you get the unlimited weekly pass for now a raised price of 12 bucks–you buy them in any subway station–
dygitalvision,
I’ll be arriving in Newark Friday morning 7:30AM or so, and then off to Pratt some way, shape, or form (or maybe the Chelsea Inn first if I can get a room). I’m leaving town again on Sunday, but will probably be hanging out with two brothers from CT and we’ll likely catch a Yankees game, so I’d probably be in their car most of that day. If I’m just going from Newark to Pratt, then catching a ride with my brothers back to Newark on Sunday, do you still think I need to worry about a pass? And how would you get to Pratt from Newark? Thanks a lot for your advice!
Yours,
mothy
from newark you can take a train or bus to nyc. I would just take the bus-I believe that a bus leaves every 30 min-until late night.why aren’t these brothers pick you up in newark? its about a 30-45 min depending on traffic to chelsea from the washington bridge-or you can take the tunnel. It sounds like you are going to be driving with your brothers all day-I would just get an all day pass if you think you are going to be walking around and going places-I wouldn;t drive around ( in manhatten to get to places-too hard to find parking) so probably just get an all day pass for 7 bucks and on saturday or friday use that to get around with. (the 7 buck day pass just lasts for that day you purchase it)
I am not sure exactly where pratt is located or where you will be going to meet so i can;t really help you there but check out this link for more help getting around with public transportation-
or just go to map quest type in your location where you want to go and it should tell you how to get there-and with the public transportation.
Take NJ transit northeast corridor line from Newark Liberty international, to New york Penn Station.
Then take the A or C train to the Hoyt Schimmerhorn stop in broklyn where you will get off the train walk across the platform and transfer to the G train, take that 2 stops and get off at Clinton Washington, pratt will be about a block away.
Super information, Bryan. I really appreciate it. Now if Pratt can come through for me and hook me up with cheap digs!
Thanks again,
mothy