<p>I think the Metro-North station you referred to is the one in Harlem (near Columbia U. or 120th), not Grand Central station, right? I vaguely remember DS mentioned one does not have to go all the way to Grand Central station in order to take Metro-North New Haven line.</p>
<p>
Did he only have carry-on? If not, he is really very efficient.</p>
<p>The advantage of flying to JFK (but not LGA) for us is that there is a direct flight from our city. This is especially appealing during winter. But I heard LGA is more convenient than JFK in terms of getting to the Metro-North station. (shorter distance and the traffic is no as bad because LGA is a smaller airport, as compared to JFK.)</p>
<p>^^ My son is in the 12-pack at Saybrook, if that helps. Three of his eleven roommates are also from the city, so there are many parents who routinely make the trek.</p>
<p>gibby and Kdog044, Unfortunately, those who live in a castle look down on those living in a modern building without right angles but with a lipstick architecture :), if you know what I mean.</p>
<p>Thanks for your info, Kdog044. (I could be wrong here, but somehow I have a vague recollection your S is a Morsel.)</p>
<p>Kdog044,
I looked at the schedule but what would the start point be? Is it Grand Central Station to New Haven? or something else.</p>
<p>Also, I am a little leary of the M60 bus. We were on a vacation in NYC a couple of years ago & took the subway to Harlem/125th street, then waited for the M60 bus to LaGuardia to pick up DD who was flying in. The M60 bus was really crowded, and my bother-in-law realized his wallet had been pick-pocketed somewhere between 125th & LGA while on the M60 bus. Worst part – drivers license stolen, cancelling all credit cards, all cash, banking, etc. Luckily he happened to have his passport back in the hotel, so he could fly home to California 2 days later. What a pain to have your driver’s license stolen when you are traveling.</p>
<p>So if I had DD fly into LGA alone next time, would I just have her take a taxi, or are there shuttle buses than run between LGA and Grand Central? Or is the Metro North Station a better (and safe) option?</p>
<p>Gibby,
Yes. I think she has a couple of friends who are from Manhattan. Maybe I could have her meet up with them & travel to Yale together in January (even if it is on the train). I would feel she is safer with others.</p>
<p>tugtraveller, sorry to hear about your BIL’s problem. My son has never indicated he ever had a problem but I can imagine if I had a daughter, I would look for alternatives such as a taxi to get to the station.</p>
<p>As far as starting point goes it depends on where you are. My son picks up the Metro at 125th street to New Haven but it originates from GCS. The starting time I gave is from Grand Central. From 125th the last departure is 11:32 PM.</p>
<p>@Kdog044, He was, and had a great time while there. He stayed at Swing Space in one year during remodeling. He actually thought it was not bad at all when staying in the “Ramada Inn”-like environment but he is not a “picky” person. (air condition!)</p>
<p>@gibby, you know I am just joking, right?!</p>
<p>I think it is a good idea that Morse and Stiles shared their eateries, pulling their “resources” together. (And traditionally, they have the additional responsibility of feeding those hungry athletes.)</p>
<p>LaGuardia is a 30-40 min. bus ride to Grand Central Station on the commuter bus. Costs about $11 and lets you off right across the street from Grand Central at 42nd St.
You could take the shortcut M60 for $2.25 to 125th Street in Harlem. I’m sure the station is ADA compliant but I don’t know where the elevator is to the elevated train platform for those rolling or dragging large bags. There are more airport employees and locals on this bus as compared to the commuter buses.</p>
<p>Also, taxi is the way to get from Penn Station to Grand Central especially with bags. You can do it by subway but it involves either walking from 34th to 42nd street to get the #7 cross town shuttle or taking one subway and then transferring to the #7.
For a world class city, it is complicated getting in and out.</p>
<p>@ tugtraveller, so sorry that your D has to go thru these travel difficulties. Thanks for posting the Saturday travel, notes on plan B, etc, for us Californians to learn about.</p>
DS subscribed to Yale Alumni Magazine. In a recent issue, it is said under Levin’s almost 20 years being the present of Yale, several improvements to Yale were:</p>
<p>1) the relation with New Haven City and Unions.
2) the crime rate, economy and the living environment of New Haven area near Yale.
3) Conditions of all 12 residential colleges after renovation.</p>
<p>A touchy issue under his supervision is Yale-NUS.</p>
<p>I do not know whether it is right or wrong, but it appears to me that Levin has paid a lot of attention to turning Yale into a university that is globalized one instead of just a national one. He seems to put his attention to enhancing science departments as well (even though it costs a lot of money to do so.) It is said in the article that the percentage of international undergraduate students has been increased to about 10 percents at Yale College, even when many quite qualified students in US could not get into a college like Yale. Maybe this is one of the reasons why he is eager to add two new residential colleges (but still not enough funding due to the economic down turn.) This reminds me that when Yale started to admit female students many decades ago, it was careful not to decrease the number of admitted male students in order to avoid resentment/backlash.</p>
<p>Question re: airport shuttle options for Winter Break?</p>
<p>We purchased non-stop flights several months ago that depart and arrive @ JFK airport. It looks like the best airport shuttle option would be Go Limo, which will pick-up & deliver from Phelps Gate to JFK for $54/each way. That’s a great price for a 2-hour drive. Is using them & prepaying the best bet, or are there better options? What happens if bad traffic, snowstorms, or delayed flight arrivals into JFK? </p>
<p>Any experiences with any of the JFK to Yale options would be most appreciated. By the way, DD successfully caught the 6:15 am train from Newark and finally arrived at Yale this morning after a 30-hour travel day from California. Thank goodness today’s travel went smoothly, but she is physically exhausted. I think the workload is picking up now that they are nearing the end of the semester.</p>
<p>@tugtraveller, Glad to hear that your D successfully caught the 6:15 am train from Newark.</p>
<p>I was always envious of those students (e.g., from NY) whose parents could drive them to campus Sunday afternoon when the class begins on Monday.</p>
<p>But going to an OOS college is itself a very good learning/growing-up experience for the kid. (For DS, it is not as bad. But he needs to get up before sun rise, and arrives at campus after it is dark – because of the connection of flights. He flied back home every break except one spring break in 4 years. And via BDL every time. I still have some difficulty in convincing my spouse another other route could be better for DS, in the worst condition.)</p>
<p>tugtraveller, with the Yale discount and 5% online booking discount, CT Limo comes out cheaper than Go Limo to JFK. There is also a bus from Grand Central area to JFK which S has used a few times. But for pure convenience, especially with luggage, we lately have been going with Go or CT from Phelps to both LGA and JFK.</p>
<p>I have learned the hard way that when traveling back to the east coast it works best for our Yalie to go back a day early. Our S went back last night, took the 11:00 pm CT limo (for him it felt like 9:00, so no biggie). He was in his suite at 12:15 am. Round trip it cost us $61 and his ride to Bradley was a private Lincoln town car :D.</p>
<p>I battled with keeping him an extra day, but to be honest, they never get the work done that they think they will while on break, and him waking up in his suite this morning gave him all day to be productive and not stress about the home stretch ahead.</p>
<p>All in all the inevitable snafus that can happen with holiday travel are greatly mitigated by one day earlier travel.</p>
<p>Food for thought, tugtraveler ;)</p>
<p>p.s. Don’t be thrown off by the lousy web site of CT Limo, their prices are worth the headache, most of the time</p>
<p>oops, a more careful reading shows your daughter did go back a day early, and it sounds like a good thing given her tribulations!!</p>