Hi all, First off, I am the Earthquakes fans, so don't shoot me yet. I will be in Manhattan with my wife, another couple with a kid so a total of 5 people. We will be at the game. I need help: 1. Finding 5 tickets that we will sit together and hopefully behind the SJ team ( not required, but preferred to sit sideline) 2. Fast/best way to get to the stadium. We will be in Timesquare corner of 7th Ave and W 45st. We have one young child so we want an "easy" way for him. Go Quakes, and good luck NYRB Thanks in advance for your help
If you don't have tickets yet and want 5 together I'd recommend calling the box office today (number is on the RB website) and talking to a ticket rep. The box office phone lines are closed on game days and even though I don't think the game is close to sold out you might not want to risk buying at the gate if you're with your family. As for getting to the game, I'd recommend going to the 33rd street PATH station which is about a 20 minute train ride to the Harrison stop, which is right next to the arena. You can use a regular subway card to use the PATH and is definitely the easiest mode of transport from the city. Enjoy!
It's basically the commuter rail out to New Jersey, but prices are within the same range of a subway ride and you can use your subway card assuming you got one that you feed money into and not an unlimited use pass. I don't know exactly where the 33rd stop is since I usually get on down near the World Trade Center, but it shouldn't be difficult to find or navigate.
You said you want to make it easy. Public transit with a young child is not easy... especially when you'll have to wait 30 minutes at the end of the night for the return train back toward NYC. The easiest way is to take a taxi or car service. Car service is probably better because pick-up will be easier after the game. You can't hail a cab at Red Bull Arena. Yes it is WAY more expensive than mass transit but if you're new to the area and want to make it easy for the child, a car is the only way to go. Leave Manhattan no later than 5:00 pm and you'll hit mild traffic as you approach the stadium. Leave after 5:00 pm and you'll miss part of the first half.
Wow, this is my second time to NYC in 10 years, so I am kinda new. The child is 5 year old. I am hoping to take a one way "PATH" to the stadium and then take a cab back. Do you think this is a good idea. I also want the boy to have the experience of riding on a train
steve did mention that a car/taxi would be way more expensive, but I feel like it should be emphasized that it will be WAY more expensive to do this than take the train. If you're going to try to catch a ride back call a car service, there are no taxis outside the arena and cabbies are often difficult about letting a group of 5 into the car. To be honest I don't even know how easy it will be to get a car service at the time. If you're little dude is 5 then at least you won't have strollers to worry about, the only stressful part will be getting back into the PATH station after the game. It was built long before the stadium and only has 2 doors for an entrance, it creates a huge bottleneck.
I took my five year girl to a West Ham game and we had to take the tube and take the bus to the Boleyn Ground. NYC is similar to this experience and you will be fine with PATH ride. Word to the wise, have something for them to do or eat while you wait in line to get back to Manhattan. As for cabbie fare, $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and not to mention stuck in traffic which is why $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Forget the path - its a cattle car & the station after the game is not plesant. 1- go to Penn Station in Manhattan 2- get on any one of the NJ transit trains to Newark Penn Station (NOT newark broad street). Walk east down market street following the crowd to the stadium over the bridge. NJ transit will cost you more than the path, but the trains are true commuter trains, where your kid can get a seat and not have someone hovering over them holding a bar. After the game do the reverse. NJtransit trains are scheduled, so you will know when to catch one. Newark Penn is run through from multiple lines, so lots of trains - on the way back you almost dont need to worry about the schedule, they run so frequently.
My logic is not dumb. Sure, people with small kids take subways and trains all the time, BUT THEY LIVE HERE. For someone who doesn't know the system he is bound to make a mistake, head in the wrong direction, misjudge how long it takes, etc. Add an exhausted kid at 10 pm after the fireworks and it is a recipe for disaster. I have kids. Trust me. And I went to a West Ham game too on public transit with an 8-year-old and it was very stressful in that crazy neighborhood. I can't imagine doing it with a 5-year-old. The suggestion above to take New Jersey Transit from New York Penn Station to Newark Penn Station is good but keep in mind the walk to the stadium is a little over a mile. You'll have a tough time getting a 5-year-old to walk a mile along a dark ancient bridge at 10 pm. It is probably a 25+ minute walk with tired, little legs. You asked for easy. A car service is easy and expensive. A train is difficult (for a tourist with a small child) and cheap. You decide what works for you.
Just to clarify, PATH is a subway, but it's a separate system from the NYC Subway (when people say "the subway", they mean the NYC one, PATH is PATH). Both accept the MetroCard however. The northernmost PATH stop is at Greeley Square, 32nd St & 6th Ave (Ave of the Americas). If you choose that option, take any train from there (they will all be going to "Journal Square via Hoboken". At Journal Square, they will kick you off, and then you walk five steps across the platform to take the Newark train. You'll see people in Red Bull jerseys by then. The Red Bulls do have a "Transportation Hub" site which outlines all of your options. And as you've seen, there are a lot of them. http://www.newyorkredbulls.com/HUB/nyc-public-map
No need to walk. Red Bull offers complimentary bus service to and from Newark Penn station. With traffic it's really no faster than walking but with a tired 5 year old I'm sure that's not a problem. Personally I recommend taking the NJ Transit train from NY Penn to Newark Penn. You'll avoid all the BS at the Path station after the game.
Is that running and working well? You can't jump in a taxi and come back to the city - there aren't yellow cabs waiting at the stadium. You'd have to call a car service and with 5 people they may not take you in one car. Don't take a car. NJTransit is probably the most straightforward if you don't mind the walk, but Path is easy too. Just can be a wait on the return trip.
20 Minutes? More like 45 minutes at least. There's a layover at Hoboken, a transfer at Journal Square, and you might have to wait since they're doing track work and trains run every 20 minutes today to Harrison. And if you have a kid walking from Penn Station Newark to the arena and back is not fun. Just take the 2 or 3 train from Times Square downtown to Park Place, follow signs for the PATH and take it straight to Harrison. You might have a seat on the PATH that way.
The layover in Hoboken is less than 5 minutes, and the track work they are doing is normally over by evening. I imagine they would wrap it up prior to the RB traffic starting. You can also do this for the A/C/E lines, and the R (Cortlandt St) and 4/5 (Fulton St) lines are also close.
here is what we did: Starting at 42nd st Took N train to 34th street Took PATH to NJ We had to transfer to another train at one of the station and then OFF on Harrison station. From here, we took a nice walk to the stadium ( 1/4 mile or so) Over all, I am pleased with the subway/PATH system. We had a blast although we didn't beat you guys hehe. A tie is good for both sides although SJ should have won ( that is a fair analysis) The stadium is fantastic and the fans club is wonderful. We encounter the cheering squad when we were walking into the stadium. That's an awesome experiend thank you everyone. We had a great time in NY. Staying in the middle of Timesquare is an added bonus because we have a kid since we don't have to walk to far. We also shown up at Good Morning America shows too
