peter
peter New Reader
11/23/10 8:38 p.m.

I live in deepest Manhattan, where driving is laughable, parking is a nightmare, and the thought of turning a wrench on your own car is about as far out as Pluto. I enjoy my life here, but yearn for the days when I could come home and fix, break, or upgrade my Miata DD/Autocrosser/TrackRat.

Since moving here almost three years ago, I've been trying to figure out how to have my cake and eat it too: live in Manhattan, park and wrench elsewhere. So far this has consisted of storing my car out in the suburbs with my parents, who have a strict no working on cars rule. So the poor car has slowly collected rust and a slew of catch-up maintenance items.

My conundrum - Craigslist has garages for rent, but they universally prohibit mechanics, and often discourage visiting at all (make an appointment to access your car!). Commercial spaces require commercial dollars and onerous leases.

What avenues am I missing? I want somewhere safe for my car and some tools. I need to be able to walk or ride a bike there from any of the public transit systems (subway, Metro North, LIRR, NJT). I think it needs to have at least power, preferably water (or be close to somewhere I can use the bathroom).

What are your outside-the-box ideas?

Toyman01
Toyman01 GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
11/23/10 9:00 p.m.

My partner keeps a 65 Fury III in a storage unit. Never had a problem working on it there. The only drawback is no power on site without dragging a 100' cord or a generator.

Stealthtercel
Stealthtercel Reader
11/23/10 9:49 p.m.

OTOH, the storage unit place I use (not for cars) is very clear that working on cars is NOT permitted. When that happens, I expect it's mostly an insurance issue and only secondarily a reluctance to have wild-eyed Miata fanatics invading the lot.

stuart in mn
stuart in mn SuperDork
11/23/10 10:01 p.m.

Unfortunately, living in deepest Manhattan probably means the cost of any sort of garage space will be prohibitive...look up the information on Jerry Seinfeld's garage for an example.

oldtin
oldtin HalfDork
11/23/10 10:02 p.m.

A friend of mine owns an aircraft club at a municipal airport. For the membership fee/dues folks have access to the clubhouse, heavy discounts on plane rentals and cheap av fuel. I've been thinking along those lines for cars. In checking things out there are a few storage clubs out there - like bridgehampton motoring club on the east coast. There's one in dallas that allows "light" maintenance and has access to a supervised lift. They also will do race prep for folks. Seems like there was another in manhattan, but I'm guessing it's just storage...

914Driver
914Driver SuperDork
11/24/10 6:44 a.m.

My son works in Manhattan near the UN building and lives in Rye. He walks one block from his apartment to the train which drops him off closer to work than when he took the subway. The train is fast, clean and you don't have the "human diversity" seen on subways.

Think outside the box of Manhattan. Find a ggarage in the Burbs near your parents', in Rye or Connecticut.

Since Ian moved to Rye he saves ~$200/month in parking tickets. His garage in Rye is $75/month.

Dan

peter
peter New Reader
11/24/10 5:34 p.m.
914Driver wrote: The train is fast, clean and you don't have the "human diversity" seen on subways.

Hey, I resemble that remark!

Actually, I prefer the subway to the train, as there's no cell reception and I don't have to hear any "no, I love YOU more" conversations.

That said, I have been looking for places outside Manhattan. The problem isn't so much finding a garage, that can be done easily - either park-it-yourself or attended. But they're never going to let you work on the car there. The detached garages you can rent from some suburbanite also typically bar you from working on your car there.

A 10x15 storage unit near my parents goes for $120/month and carries the "no working on cars" caveat in the lease. I've never seen anyone check up on it when I've been in there for my parts storage unit, but it only takes once. Still no power or water, but the frontrunner for winter storage.

It occurred to me today that Tom Yang, the guy who detailed his Ferrari restoration, started out in a similar position. I may ask him how he got the space to start his project... (it may be in his build diary, I'll have to check)

Junkyard_Dog
Junkyard_Dog Dork
11/24/10 5:57 p.m.

Heres one way out there in left field: rent/buy a shipping container and plop it down in a rented parking spot. Hell if you fed the meter you should be able to keep it on the street (not that I'd try it). Add a generator and you're good to go. Inspired by this locost build linked from the Miata kit car thread.

Not ideal but you asked for ideas. You didn't say they had to be good

Giant Purple Snorklewacker
Giant Purple Snorklewacker SuperDork
11/24/10 6:03 p.m.

Jersey City. One stop from WTC.

peter
peter New Reader
11/24/10 6:24 p.m.

Yes, Jersey City would work great, just haven't found any ads for what I want. Guess I need to start putting up "wanted" ads.

This would be over-the-top perfect, except for price. Even splitting that with someone like-minded would be way out of budget!

internetautomart
internetautomart SuperDork
11/24/10 10:25 p.m.

No advice from me, I don't like new york.
I'm also fairly spoiled as my entire life I've had access to a garage with tools.
I know in chicago you look in the more suburban areas of the city and you'll find something. Also look in the lower income areas for real work space. I know around here they are significantly cheaper.

wbjones
wbjones Dork
11/25/10 8:33 a.m.

Peter, there should be some garage space available in some of the other boroughs ... or even north of "the city".. white plains, westchester, tarrytown.....whole bunch of "country" up that way... bound to be some garages available.....

You'll need to log in to post.

Our Preferred Partners
FFJllYL63bs0pfsBs2SKx4rrYnTx6qjhHmxRVSI1EKLRBRLjTqOAUq7ktvE2xSNx