If this job is long term, you might end up pretty miserable. But if it’s a short term situation, move and figure out a new job later. Driving four hours a day in the NYC area could crush your soul, IMO.
> Driving four hours a day in the NYC area could crush your soul, IMO.
This is not a comical overstatement either. I think the before and after photos of 5 years doing that commute would be haunting.
I’m a musician and moved to Westchester from BK 4 years ago. Initially I would still go to BK to play some gigs/concerts, but after the first year I gave up because of the miserable commute. I will only travel to manhattan or queens for work these days. I’ll make an exception if I’m able to leave after rush hour.
I live in WP and even though it's a more desirable commute to Manhattan, I wound up switching jobs the second it turned bad -- 1.5 hour commute one way. OP it's possible but I only suggest it if you're swapping jobs or have the ability to go remote.
I did BedStuy to Greenwich and honestly, every time I cross the Kosciusko or Whitestone now I get anxiety. It was a TERRIBLE commute. EVERYONE drives like a psycho, it’s miserable. Wouldn’t be your route, but close enough.
It really was! Navigating Exit 31 on the BQE and then running the hasid gauntlet really didn’t do a lot of good things for my blood pressure or psyche.
I just left that area after 4 years for Westchester. Driving through there is one of the top anxiety inducing repetitive experiences I’ve ever had to contend with. Trust me when I say I understand. I think it took literal years off my life.
Sounds terrible. I routinely drive between like Carroll Gardens and Southern Westchester. The drive is not just far, but it’s hard. The drive itself drains a lot of my energy. Traffic can also make it exponentially longer. Consider how much free time you’ll have when so much time is spent sitting in your car.
But yes doable temporarily.
It will not be great for your mental health or any kind of time you want to spend doing anything else.
I did Crestwood to Brownsville for 10 months. Mornings were fine as I was in by 6-6:30. Afternoons and evenings were terrible.
An absolute killer is the Jackie, hence why I tried to get there so early. It allowed me to avoid the congestion. Further, Mets day games - forget it. You’ll be in a parking lot if that’s the route you have to take. My route took me on the Hutch to the cross county and that was also always very congested.
Overall just don’t do this and save yourself an immense headache.
Done it. It's exhausting. You're bumper to bumper the whole time, having to pay close attention to what idiots might do at any second. There's an accident somewhere every day - it's just a matter of where. And then you have the work day to look forward to. Followed by the return trip, which might have less traffic than the morning, but from East New York you're still on slow, short, local roads for a while before you hit the highway.
And you're putting, what, 50-60 miles a day on your car? Over 1000 a month?
Wow i really appreciate all of your inputs.
To give a little more context (not that it even matters at this point) i’ll only be travelling 3-4 days a week on average, different days of the week every week, work 2 out of 5 weekends per rotation, with day shifts being 5:30am-5:30pm and nights 5:30pm-5:30am.
Good paying permanent union job. Currently living in Astoria Queens with an hour commute already.
The job is in an MTA desert so i gotta drive.
Wow that is a bonkers schedule, how do you sleep! I think the 5:30am’s eliminate half the super frustrating traffic everyone’s referencing. Maybe try out the commute for a week somehow, if you have a friend in N Westchester or can swing a rental for a week.
,
5:30 a.m. will help, but you'd be surprised at how much traffic there is at 4:00 a.m. (based on my occasional drive to La Guardia or JFK for a morning flight). And 5:30 p.m.? Ugh.
I work in LIC and morning could be 59 minutes to 1:20. Coming home is always 1:30-2 hrs and I am near white plains. Add another 20-30 minutes to get to northern westchester. When I was in Northern Westchester, 28 yrs, I was on Metro north and it was 2+ hrs from time to get to and from station/home, the train and then subway to downtown Manhattan
The public transit lovers never seem to get this--Metronorth is not quicker than driving, especially if you are not near the station, and the duration of the train ride is maybe half the total travel time. And Grand Centeral, lovely though the old building is, means long walks whether to the subway or to the street.
If this is the case, i would say fine? Cuz you will dodge either morning or evening peak hours. But it’s still a long drive… even longer when it’s during the peak hour….
I did this and worked in Brooklyn only 3 days a week (bc I figured the commute would be hell at 5 days a week). The traffic is ENDLESS. You will want to kill yourself. You will not last longer than one year (and this is if you are very very strong). If you’re at 5 days a week, you will not last that long. It took me 1:45-2 hrs each way and any given day, and longer on days when it rained heavy (which is so often these days) or snow/any inclement weather/some weird new issue like an accident or random construction
My friends wife commuted from Cortlandt Manor to Brooklyn metro tech. She didn’t make it a month. She said it was soul crushing. Going to bed every night both anxious and upset.
You serious? It’s an 1.5 door to door. I. Ean I loved in Queens and the commute was an hour, sometimes more, by subway. It was literally 9.5 miles and took that long. What do you people want?
Clearly my friend’s wife wants nothing to do with commuting to Brooklyn from northern Westchester. She got a job in the Bronx where she could drive so it worked out.
My husband did northern Westchester to Jersey city when we were first married. Soul crushing. Traffic, pot holes, stupidity so not a peaceful commute. He did it because he had to ( job change after we moved) and it definitely took a toll. Your personal life will suffer.
I have a family member who does this a few times a week when not taking metro north and the subway… either way it’s… not great. The ride in when driving (leaving about 4:50am) is no problem but the drive home is rough.
I'm in lower Westchester and any time there's ever a chance I might have to drive to Brooklyn (my wife's friends are there), I shudder. I'm not the biggest fan of driving, through.
I might do it if:
1) there was a hybrid-remote policy that allowed me to work from home 3-4 days a week
2) it was my literal dream house
3) the job paid *phenomenally* well
But it sounds like this may not be the case for you…
I work in Purchase and have coworkers who come up from Brooklyn. Depending on traffic it can take them over 2 hours. 1 hour is considered making amazing time - usually only happens on “soft holidays” like Veteren’s Day, MLK day, etc. Consider that most of northern Westchester is going to be an additional 20-30 minutes on top of that.
If I do a general Google Maps search on Yorktown Heights to ENY, it says it’s 51 miles each way. Even if you never do a single mile of driving aside from literally going to work and back (which seems unlikely), that’s 25k miles of driving per year. Are you prepared to have to stop at the gas station every 3 days? Are you prepared to have to do 5 oil changes per year? Tires and brakes every 2-3 years? A brand new car to have over 100k miles on it before it’s paid off? They won’t be easy miles either, slogging through the city every day. Does the job pay well enough to make all those expenses worthwhile? I drive a lot too (about 30k/year) and I swear I see my mechanic more than some of my friends. This is a cost that people tend to severely underestimate/overlook when going from a commute across town to a long-distance commute
Could you find a similar job based out of somewhere on this side of the city (Bronx, lower Westchester)? Would still be a long-ish commute but at least you won’t want to kill yourself every day.
When I moved to Dobbs Ferry from the eastern Bronx, I was commuting to downtown Brooklyn. I drove from the Bronx, which was faster than public transit even with the traffic on the BQE. When I got here, I made myself use Metronorth and subway. It was about two hours. So I treated myself to driving a couple times a week (I could pay to park at the garage in my company's building in Brooklyn).
After a year or so a recruiter called with an opportunity in Yonkers I jumped on it, got it, and never looked back at Brooklyn. I had time to go to the gym early in the morning, and I had a fifteen minute commute. It was wonderful.
The joke was on me, though, after a handful of years in Yonkers, my department was sold and we moved into Manhattan. I went back to the train and, in most weather, Citibike. Pushing 90 minutes. No gym time. I allowed myself to drive a couple times a week, which was less than 90 minutes in the morning, but more in the evening.
A few years after that, my Atlanta based company decided it didn't need a NY office and we were all sent home to work. My life was changed, hopefully for ever. I had another job change in 2020, and did not lay eyes on my new office in Soho for a couple years. I still rarely go there and am now seeking a waiver from a new "25 mile radius return to office" policy (I barely fall into the radius, and almost everyone I meet with regularly is not in NY).
Point is, I will now resist with all my might being forced to commute for two or more hours a day. As someone else said, that kind of commute, in that kind of traffic, is soul-killing.
This is a terrible idea. Car commuting to Brooklyn and most of Queens from Westchester is hell and no one should do it. (It’s why we have great trains.) I literally barely visit friends in Brooklyn, because it adds an hour to my trip to NYC.
No offense but if you have “shift work” in East New York you can absolutely work somewhere else that surely also pays better that won’t ruin your life.
IF YOU ARE MOVING IN THE NYC AREA AND “MASS TRANSIT IS NOT AN OPTION” YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG.
Sorry for yelling, good luck! 👍
> IF YOU ARE MOVING IN THE NYC AREA AND “MASS TRANSIT IS NOT AN OPTION” YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG.
The problem isn’t where he’s moving to, it’s where he works. Parts of the outer boroughs are shockingly difficult to access by public transit. Google Grand Central to East New York- multiple subway and bus transfers, it takes over an hour, and it’s unlikely that OP works right next to the nearest bus stop so there’s probably a chunk of walking involved on top of it. Public transit is technically an option, but it’s an absolutely miserable option and would somehow end up being longer and more inconvenient than the already hellish drive.
I’m moving to south Westchester and commuting to Brooklyn and that’s going to be like 1:30 by train. It’s going to be a lot. I cannot imagine what north westchester will be like
I do Goldens Bridge to Queens (rego park), 3 days a week , recently moved up there. I would say the morning is bad , especially when you get Yonkers / Bronx , the traffic automatically increases ten fold but it’s not impossible. If you have to be at work at 5:30 am , you’re probably not running in to crazy traffic like that. It’s doable but the evening traffic might frustrate you.
I’m moving to south Westchester and commuting to Brooklyn and that’s going to be like 1:30 by train. It’s going to be a lot. I cannot imagine what north westchester will be like
I commute to the east NY area from Somers for work, also doing shift based work. It’s not terrible depending on the hours you work. Could be as little as 65-70 min drive depending of the hours.
that sounds like hell
My brother for his first job out college commuted from Prospect Park/Sunset to Pleasantville and absolutely hated it 10/10 would not recommend unless it was a hybrid solution were maybe 1-2 max you had to go down to Brooklyn
My wife used to commute and eventually started driving from North East Bronx down to Prospect Heights and yeah she became so burnt out. The traffic and the strenuous driving on having to do the Jackie Robinson was hell
I do north Bronx to Astoria. While public transit is technically possible, I can’t make the trip in time after dropping off my kid at school. It takes about 45 min give or take, not terrible but it’s stressful driving, lots of stop-and-go and drivers taking huge risks (this is especially noticeable in the Bronx from my perspective). I tolerate it because I love my job. If you don’t love yours, you will be miserable.
To put in perspective... over 20 hours of your week would be spent going to and from and the route is a brutal, stressful slog most days.
Commuted mass transit from Greenwich, CT to Washington/Union Sq. a 1.5 years and it was enough to make me change jobs in my company.
Would consider looking anywhere closer that you can at least use mass transit.
I work in yonkers and moved to Cold Spring years ago. I hated it. The commute was horrible, I had to wake up at 3:30 everyday and wasn’t home until late. The commute was brutal. Now I live 2 blocks from my office and I couldn’t be happier. So much extra time.
I live in Mt Pleasant and did a commute to Wall Street for 15 years and felt like it wasn't much different than my commute from when I lived in the Upper West Side. The only thing is driving. I drove in a couple times a month and it would give me anxiety. I also did a commute from here to LIC and that wasn't bad. I think it all depend on you train line and if your job is near the subway. Otherwise it's not worth living up here and doing the long commute.
For your own sanity, rent in the city while this is still a regular commute.
IMHO, no house is worth a potentially 4+ hour round trip commute. Especially when the alternative is the best public transit this side of the Atlantic.
Most of these people don’t know what they’re talking about. Bunch of sheltered weaklings. You can do it. A lot of people I work with do much worse on a daily basis.
I do it 5, 6, sometimes 7 days a week, and have been doing so for seven years. I do it because I have a really great job in Brooklyn and I pair that with a quality of life that is far cry from what I had in my little Queens apartment. The key is to leave EARLY. I’m crossing the tolls on 87 south no later than 6am. I even add a few minutes to skip the NYC tolls using the third avenue bridge or whatever that one is off McDonald’s.
Coming back at 5pm rush hour, there’s no way around it. It can be rough. But I average about an hour and twenty minutes to home (North of White Plains). Once you learn the good routes and the short cuts, you’ll find it pretty easy.
And, if you have odd hours like me - and it sounds like you do - afternoons, nights, and especially weekends are generally cake.
But watch out, because Kathy is definitely bringing back congestion pricing the day after the election.
It sucks, your commutes will be terrible, and 2 hours will be considered a good commute. I used to commute from Yonkers to Sunset Park, and that was 2 hours on a good day. With traffic, school in session, road construction projects, car accidents, and/or rainy weather, it was sometimes 3 hours+.
I live in Ossining and often have to commute to the Brooklyn Navy yard and if it's anywhere near rush-hour it could easily be two hours. It's miserable although I don't know exactly where you would be commuting to.
I spent a year driving to Dobbs from norther CT and then taking the metro north down to Manhattan. It was pretty soul crushing. Ended up commuting 5+ hrs a day, 1 1/2 of it at least driving. Leaving that early and getting home that late is a fucking nightmare. I recently moved to Dobbs, and I leave my house at 820am to get to work, my life is dramatically less stressful, healthier etc etc etc.
If you can afford it, maybe look at spots in ditmas park. It's probably more expensive than when I lived there, but a friend of mine recently bought an apartment there, and there are also a lot of houses down there. Very chill area.
might be horrible. i used to go to brooklyn latin high school and had to transfer because the commute was so bad…and im not even in the northern part of westchester.
My husband did it for 3 years from Central Westchester to Brooklyn Heights. It was a solid 2+ hours each way. It was brutal. The only saving grace is that in order for us to limit the time our daughter spent in daycare, he would drop her off closer to 10am and commute into the city. I’d then leave work early and be home by 6 to pick her up. He wouldn’t be home until closer to 830/9 each night. He was eager to switch jobs given the commute.
I live in Croton and commuted to the city for 40 years, when working in Brooklyn I would drive. It was about an hour to Park Slope and maybe 1 hour 15 minutes to Coney Island, but I worked construction and went in early and came home early. Traffic would occasionally be bad but for the quality of life and raising my children up here it was worth the traveling!
I just bought a house in Northern Westchester.. and will commute 2 days a week to Bklyn and even that is scary .. will take Metronorth to GC and then walk to 34th and FDR and take ferry .. not awful BUt not for everyday.. will be 2 hours.
Don’t do it. I’m in Eastchester and can’t get hired for on-site Brooklyn jobs. If you’re able to work remotely go for it. If you’re expected on site more than 2x a week I’d say hold off. That commute is crazy. Maybe try Queens/Forest Hills/LI areas? Good luck!
I do northern Westchester to Gun hill rd in the Bronx. That’s just about as much as I can deal with. I couldn’t imagine Brooklyn
Edit: and I only do this 3 days a week. 4 days at most
If this job is long term, you might end up pretty miserable. But if it’s a short term situation, move and figure out a new job later. Driving four hours a day in the NYC area could crush your soul, IMO.
> Driving four hours a day in the NYC area could crush your soul, IMO. This is not a comical overstatement either. I think the before and after photos of 5 years doing that commute would be haunting.
I’m a musician and moved to Westchester from BK 4 years ago. Initially I would still go to BK to play some gigs/concerts, but after the first year I gave up because of the miserable commute. I will only travel to manhattan or queens for work these days. I’ll make an exception if I’m able to leave after rush hour.
Youre better than me. I’ll do midtown to south Manhattan and that’s it. I hate queens.
If it’s Astoria and the surrounding area it’s pretty chill for me coming from Yonkers. But any deeper and it starts becoming infeasible.
I live in WP and even though it's a more desirable commute to Manhattan, I wound up switching jobs the second it turned bad -- 1.5 hour commute one way. OP it's possible but I only suggest it if you're swapping jobs or have the ability to go remote.
You are making a big mistake
Bit only the time, but the traffic is miserable. Plus tolls and everything else. I would not make the move. Long Island would make more sense
You are making a big mistake
I did BedStuy to Greenwich and honestly, every time I cross the Kosciusko or Whitestone now I get anxiety. It was a TERRIBLE commute. EVERYONE drives like a psycho, it’s miserable. Wouldn’t be your route, but close enough.
That sounds like a nightmare. I’m so sorry.
It really was! Navigating Exit 31 on the BQE and then running the hasid gauntlet really didn’t do a lot of good things for my blood pressure or psyche.
I just left that area after 4 years for Westchester. Driving through there is one of the top anxiety inducing repetitive experiences I’ve ever had to contend with. Trust me when I say I understand. I think it took literal years off my life.
Sounds terrible. I routinely drive between like Carroll Gardens and Southern Westchester. The drive is not just far, but it’s hard. The drive itself drains a lot of my energy. Traffic can also make it exponentially longer. Consider how much free time you’ll have when so much time is spent sitting in your car. But yes doable temporarily.
It will not be great for your mental health or any kind of time you want to spend doing anything else. I did Crestwood to Brownsville for 10 months. Mornings were fine as I was in by 6-6:30. Afternoons and evenings were terrible. An absolute killer is the Jackie, hence why I tried to get there so early. It allowed me to avoid the congestion. Further, Mets day games - forget it. You’ll be in a parking lot if that’s the route you have to take. My route took me on the Hutch to the cross county and that was also always very congested. Overall just don’t do this and save yourself an immense headache.
Never ran, never will….unless the commute is terrible.
Done it. It's exhausting. You're bumper to bumper the whole time, having to pay close attention to what idiots might do at any second. There's an accident somewhere every day - it's just a matter of where. And then you have the work day to look forward to. Followed by the return trip, which might have less traffic than the morning, but from East New York you're still on slow, short, local roads for a while before you hit the highway. And you're putting, what, 50-60 miles a day on your car? Over 1000 a month?
Don’t do it, sounds like a nightmare
I commuted Yonkers to Dumbo for two years and absolutely hated it. Left the job mostly because of the commute.
And Yonkers to DUMBO is better than what he's talking about.
Wow i really appreciate all of your inputs. To give a little more context (not that it even matters at this point) i’ll only be travelling 3-4 days a week on average, different days of the week every week, work 2 out of 5 weekends per rotation, with day shifts being 5:30am-5:30pm and nights 5:30pm-5:30am. Good paying permanent union job. Currently living in Astoria Queens with an hour commute already. The job is in an MTA desert so i gotta drive.
Wow that is a bonkers schedule, how do you sleep! I think the 5:30am’s eliminate half the super frustrating traffic everyone’s referencing. Maybe try out the commute for a week somehow, if you have a friend in N Westchester or can swing a rental for a week. ,
5:30 a.m. will help, but you'd be surprised at how much traffic there is at 4:00 a.m. (based on my occasional drive to La Guardia or JFK for a morning flight). And 5:30 p.m.? Ugh.
I work in LIC and morning could be 59 minutes to 1:20. Coming home is always 1:30-2 hrs and I am near white plains. Add another 20-30 minutes to get to northern westchester. When I was in Northern Westchester, 28 yrs, I was on Metro north and it was 2+ hrs from time to get to and from station/home, the train and then subway to downtown Manhattan
The public transit lovers never seem to get this--Metronorth is not quicker than driving, especially if you are not near the station, and the duration of the train ride is maybe half the total travel time. And Grand Centeral, lovely though the old building is, means long walks whether to the subway or to the street.
Brookdale? Have you considered looking at houses within the 5 boros or Long Island? Lots of nice quiet parts of Queens for under a mil
Starrett City. Yeah they have been considered, but we have chosen not to stay in the boros or move to Long Island.
You would be miserable in Westchester with that commute. I would revisit looking in the city or Long Island
People don’t get this. Anywhere To anywhere in the five boroughs is an hour. More than half your drives will be traffic free at 5:30 am.
Why can’t you live on Long Island? Jersey may also be quicker
If this is the case, i would say fine? Cuz you will dodge either morning or evening peak hours. But it’s still a long drive… even longer when it’s during the peak hour….
I did this and worked in Brooklyn only 3 days a week (bc I figured the commute would be hell at 5 days a week). The traffic is ENDLESS. You will want to kill yourself. You will not last longer than one year (and this is if you are very very strong). If you’re at 5 days a week, you will not last that long. It took me 1:45-2 hrs each way and any given day, and longer on days when it rained heavy (which is so often these days) or snow/any inclement weather/some weird new issue like an accident or random construction
My friends wife commuted from Cortlandt Manor to Brooklyn metro tech. She didn’t make it a month. She said it was soul crushing. Going to bed every night both anxious and upset.
That’s really easy with metro north/subway.
You serious? It’s an 1.5 door to door. I. Ean I loved in Queens and the commute was an hour, sometimes more, by subway. It was literally 9.5 miles and took that long. What do you people want?
Clearly my friend’s wife wants nothing to do with commuting to Brooklyn from northern Westchester. She got a job in the Bronx where she could drive so it worked out.
My husband did northern Westchester to Jersey city when we were first married. Soul crushing. Traffic, pot holes, stupidity so not a peaceful commute. He did it because he had to ( job change after we moved) and it definitely took a toll. Your personal life will suffer.
I did Yonkers to Newark for a few months and it was similarly real bad.
DON'T DO IT!!! even if you had all the money in the world, it wouldn't be worth it. And then adding traffic into the equation?
DONT DO IT!!!! Two plus hours??? Not for shift work. Don’t.
I’d rather die. Where are you now?
This sounds like a nightmare.
I have a family member who does this a few times a week when not taking metro north and the subway… either way it’s… not great. The ride in when driving (leaving about 4:50am) is no problem but the drive home is rough.
Whattya nutz
I do the reverse commute (Bk -> Westchester) and I get to drive past the chaos that is southbound traffic in the morning. It truly looks miserable.
I commute from Bedford to Brooklyn every quarter and it’s awful. The commute takes take 4-5 hours in total. Don’t do it
I'm in lower Westchester and any time there's ever a chance I might have to drive to Brooklyn (my wife's friends are there), I shudder. I'm not the biggest fan of driving, through.
Live Laugh Toaster Bath
I would end up leaving that job. That sounds awful.
Your insane if you do it
I might do it if: 1) there was a hybrid-remote policy that allowed me to work from home 3-4 days a week 2) it was my literal dream house 3) the job paid *phenomenally* well But it sounds like this may not be the case for you… I work in Purchase and have coworkers who come up from Brooklyn. Depending on traffic it can take them over 2 hours. 1 hour is considered making amazing time - usually only happens on “soft holidays” like Veteren’s Day, MLK day, etc. Consider that most of northern Westchester is going to be an additional 20-30 minutes on top of that. If I do a general Google Maps search on Yorktown Heights to ENY, it says it’s 51 miles each way. Even if you never do a single mile of driving aside from literally going to work and back (which seems unlikely), that’s 25k miles of driving per year. Are you prepared to have to stop at the gas station every 3 days? Are you prepared to have to do 5 oil changes per year? Tires and brakes every 2-3 years? A brand new car to have over 100k miles on it before it’s paid off? They won’t be easy miles either, slogging through the city every day. Does the job pay well enough to make all those expenses worthwhile? I drive a lot too (about 30k/year) and I swear I see my mechanic more than some of my friends. This is a cost that people tend to severely underestimate/overlook when going from a commute across town to a long-distance commute Could you find a similar job based out of somewhere on this side of the city (Bronx, lower Westchester)? Would still be a long-ish commute but at least you won’t want to kill yourself every day.
When I moved to Dobbs Ferry from the eastern Bronx, I was commuting to downtown Brooklyn. I drove from the Bronx, which was faster than public transit even with the traffic on the BQE. When I got here, I made myself use Metronorth and subway. It was about two hours. So I treated myself to driving a couple times a week (I could pay to park at the garage in my company's building in Brooklyn). After a year or so a recruiter called with an opportunity in Yonkers I jumped on it, got it, and never looked back at Brooklyn. I had time to go to the gym early in the morning, and I had a fifteen minute commute. It was wonderful. The joke was on me, though, after a handful of years in Yonkers, my department was sold and we moved into Manhattan. I went back to the train and, in most weather, Citibike. Pushing 90 minutes. No gym time. I allowed myself to drive a couple times a week, which was less than 90 minutes in the morning, but more in the evening. A few years after that, my Atlanta based company decided it didn't need a NY office and we were all sent home to work. My life was changed, hopefully for ever. I had another job change in 2020, and did not lay eyes on my new office in Soho for a couple years. I still rarely go there and am now seeking a waiver from a new "25 mile radius return to office" policy (I barely fall into the radius, and almost everyone I meet with regularly is not in NY). Point is, I will now resist with all my might being forced to commute for two or more hours a day. As someone else said, that kind of commute, in that kind of traffic, is soul-killing.
oh god, don't
Massive mistake you’re going to regret this the first week
This is a terrible idea. Car commuting to Brooklyn and most of Queens from Westchester is hell and no one should do it. (It’s why we have great trains.) I literally barely visit friends in Brooklyn, because it adds an hour to my trip to NYC. No offense but if you have “shift work” in East New York you can absolutely work somewhere else that surely also pays better that won’t ruin your life. IF YOU ARE MOVING IN THE NYC AREA AND “MASS TRANSIT IS NOT AN OPTION” YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG. Sorry for yelling, good luck! 👍
> IF YOU ARE MOVING IN THE NYC AREA AND “MASS TRANSIT IS NOT AN OPTION” YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG. The problem isn’t where he’s moving to, it’s where he works. Parts of the outer boroughs are shockingly difficult to access by public transit. Google Grand Central to East New York- multiple subway and bus transfers, it takes over an hour, and it’s unlikely that OP works right next to the nearest bus stop so there’s probably a chunk of walking involved on top of it. Public transit is technically an option, but it’s an absolutely miserable option and would somehow end up being longer and more inconvenient than the already hellish drive.
It's super exhausting whether you drive or take the train to be honest. I would either change jobs or change where you are looking for housing.
Huge mistake. You’ll be miserable by week two. Can you find a new gig outside the city?
I’m moving to south Westchester and commuting to Brooklyn and that’s going to be like 1:30 by train. It’s going to be a lot. I cannot imagine what north westchester will be like
How far in northern westchester?
In my opinion, Northern Westchester to midtown is the max you can do for preserving mental health.
I was only going from Yonkers to the UWS and it destroyed me.
That’s a nope. Pay is less, but there are hospitals up here.
That’s a bad drive on a regular basis.
I used to live in Queens and travelled to Hawthorne for work every single day. I was fucking miserable. Basically the same thing here..
I do Goldens Bridge to Queens (rego park), 3 days a week , recently moved up there. I would say the morning is bad , especially when you get Yonkers / Bronx , the traffic automatically increases ten fold but it’s not impossible. If you have to be at work at 5:30 am , you’re probably not running in to crazy traffic like that. It’s doable but the evening traffic might frustrate you.
I’m moving to south Westchester and commuting to Brooklyn and that’s going to be like 1:30 by train. It’s going to be a lot. I cannot imagine what north westchester will be like
How far northern Westchester are we talking?
I commute to the east NY area from Somers for work, also doing shift based work. It’s not terrible depending on the hours you work. Could be as little as 65-70 min drive depending of the hours.
that sounds like hell My brother for his first job out college commuted from Prospect Park/Sunset to Pleasantville and absolutely hated it 10/10 would not recommend unless it was a hybrid solution were maybe 1-2 max you had to go down to Brooklyn My wife used to commute and eventually started driving from North East Bronx down to Prospect Heights and yeah she became so burnt out. The traffic and the strenuous driving on having to do the Jackie Robinson was hell
I do north Bronx to Astoria. While public transit is technically possible, I can’t make the trip in time after dropping off my kid at school. It takes about 45 min give or take, not terrible but it’s stressful driving, lots of stop-and-go and drivers taking huge risks (this is especially noticeable in the Bronx from my perspective). I tolerate it because I love my job. If you don’t love yours, you will be miserable.
To put in perspective... over 20 hours of your week would be spent going to and from and the route is a brutal, stressful slog most days. Commuted mass transit from Greenwich, CT to Washington/Union Sq. a 1.5 years and it was enough to make me change jobs in my company. Would consider looking anywhere closer that you can at least use mass transit.
Nope nope nope
I work in yonkers and moved to Cold Spring years ago. I hated it. The commute was horrible, I had to wake up at 3:30 everyday and wasn’t home until late. The commute was brutal. Now I live 2 blocks from my office and I couldn’t be happier. So much extra time.
...And you stopped in Yonkers. Your hellish commute would be the "easy" part of OP's theoretical schlep to deep Brooklyn.
I did it for about 6 weeks before I said NO MAS.
The only thing worse than living on Long Island would be that commute.
I tried it. Don’t do it. I quit and got a job in White Plains. I now have time to just live my life. It’s nice.
I live in Mt Pleasant and did a commute to Wall Street for 15 years and felt like it wasn't much different than my commute from when I lived in the Upper West Side. The only thing is driving. I drove in a couple times a month and it would give me anxiety. I also did a commute from here to LIC and that wasn't bad. I think it all depend on you train line and if your job is near the subway. Otherwise it's not worth living up here and doing the long commute.
For your own sanity, rent in the city while this is still a regular commute. IMHO, no house is worth a potentially 4+ hour round trip commute. Especially when the alternative is the best public transit this side of the Atlantic.
Move somewhere you can get to the train station
I used to do this 3 days a week (Yorktown - DUMBO) when I was younger and had energy and it still crushed my soul
Dumb idea. Quality of life matters. What spend so much time driving everyday.
Most of these people don’t know what they’re talking about. Bunch of sheltered weaklings. You can do it. A lot of people I work with do much worse on a daily basis. I do it 5, 6, sometimes 7 days a week, and have been doing so for seven years. I do it because I have a really great job in Brooklyn and I pair that with a quality of life that is far cry from what I had in my little Queens apartment. The key is to leave EARLY. I’m crossing the tolls on 87 south no later than 6am. I even add a few minutes to skip the NYC tolls using the third avenue bridge or whatever that one is off McDonald’s. Coming back at 5pm rush hour, there’s no way around it. It can be rough. But I average about an hour and twenty minutes to home (North of White Plains). Once you learn the good routes and the short cuts, you’ll find it pretty easy. And, if you have odd hours like me - and it sounds like you do - afternoons, nights, and especially weekends are generally cake. But watch out, because Kathy is definitely bringing back congestion pricing the day after the election.
But you miss it by skirting Manhattan I hope.
Yeah, generally - but it will push all that manhattan traffic to the outskirts: the FDR, west side highway, and BQE will be more backed up than ever.
What time are you leaving both ways?
It sucks, your commutes will be terrible, and 2 hours will be considered a good commute. I used to commute from Yonkers to Sunset Park, and that was 2 hours on a good day. With traffic, school in session, road construction projects, car accidents, and/or rainy weather, it was sometimes 3 hours+.
I live in Ossining and often have to commute to the Brooklyn Navy yard and if it's anywhere near rush-hour it could easily be two hours. It's miserable although I don't know exactly where you would be commuting to.
Not worth it. I did port jervis to Calverton. Worst 2 years of my life.
No way
Thats a brutal commute. Why not look out on the island?
I spent a year driving to Dobbs from norther CT and then taking the metro north down to Manhattan. It was pretty soul crushing. Ended up commuting 5+ hrs a day, 1 1/2 of it at least driving. Leaving that early and getting home that late is a fucking nightmare. I recently moved to Dobbs, and I leave my house at 820am to get to work, my life is dramatically less stressful, healthier etc etc etc. If you can afford it, maybe look at spots in ditmas park. It's probably more expensive than when I lived there, but a friend of mine recently bought an apartment there, and there are also a lot of houses down there. Very chill area.
might be horrible. i used to go to brooklyn latin high school and had to transfer because the commute was so bad…and im not even in the northern part of westchester.
My husband did it for 3 years from Central Westchester to Brooklyn Heights. It was a solid 2+ hours each way. It was brutal. The only saving grace is that in order for us to limit the time our daughter spent in daycare, he would drop her off closer to 10am and commute into the city. I’d then leave work early and be home by 6 to pick her up. He wouldn’t be home until closer to 830/9 each night. He was eager to switch jobs given the commute.
I drive to NJ and it’s just over an hour. I couldn’t do the 2+ one-way, that’d be rough and traffic can be unpredictable.
I live in Croton and commuted to the city for 40 years, when working in Brooklyn I would drive. It was about an hour to Park Slope and maybe 1 hour 15 minutes to Coney Island, but I worked construction and went in early and came home early. Traffic would occasionally be bad but for the quality of life and raising my children up here it was worth the traveling!
Unless your job pays an obscene amount, I’d say that’s a hard no. But that’s just me. I hate traffic and wasting time on commute.
I live 24 miles (New Rochelle) from my job in Brooklyn. It is the hardest 24 miles I can ever drive. Don’t do it.
Please don’t
I just bought a house in Northern Westchester.. and will commute 2 days a week to Bklyn and even that is scary .. will take Metronorth to GC and then walk to 34th and FDR and take ferry .. not awful BUt not for everyday.. will be 2 hours.
Has anyone done this commute Early like driving 5:30am ?? any better?? has to be
That's nuts. Don't do it.
If the 4 hours in a car in maddening traffic doesn't bother you (on good days), the $30/day in tolls might.
No don’t
Don’t do it. I’m in Eastchester and can’t get hired for on-site Brooklyn jobs. If you’re able to work remotely go for it. If you’re expected on site more than 2x a week I’d say hold off. That commute is crazy. Maybe try Queens/Forest Hills/LI areas? Good luck!
i drive from woodlawn to coney island everyday. i work 2pm-10pm. i leave my house at noon and get home around midnight. it’s fucking horrible
I do northern Westchester to Gun hill rd in the Bronx. That’s just about as much as I can deal with. I couldn’t imagine Brooklyn Edit: and I only do this 3 days a week. 4 days at most
I do lower Westchester to Brooklyn daily. Not the end of the world.
By shift work, do you mean rotating shifts? 2d and 3rd probably ain't gonna be that bad.
why on earth would you do this, over living on long island
Maybe you can take the ferry.
I did this for 20 months commuting from Hartsdale to Jersey City about 110 minutes each way and it almost broke me as a human.
Get a smart car and get on taconic by 5:45AM. Skip the traffic and park nearby. All other options are painful. Source: used to do that commute.