Thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster I don’t work in NYC and live in NJ anymore.
There were two years in the last decade that were absolutely miserable for me. I was consulting for a big tech consultancy group, and one of my clients was in downtown Manhattan, and one was in Brooklyn. I had personal responsibilities that meant I couldn’t move from my home in Toms River, so I had to commute into the city every day from Ocean County.
For Brooklyn, it required:
- Driving to the bus station in Monmouth County off Exit 117 of the Garden State Parkway:
- Waiting for the damn bus to show up, outside (couldn’t wait in the car, because you’d lose your spot in line). Many times, it was below freezing. So I’d wear a heavy Columbia coat outside, then try to take it off and find a place for it in the sweltering bus.
- Ride for over an hour into the city via the Lincoln Tunnel.
- Get off at Port Authority. Put the coat back on, even though Port Authority could be sweltering.
- Walk across the entire station to get to the subway line.
- Take a subway to Brooklyn. (This was the least shitty part of the commute. Subways are nice.)
- Get out, and walk back into the cold.
- Walk a few blocks to work.
That was 5-6 hours of my day getting there and getting back. I was mostly a zombie. My personal life became unmanageable. Luckily, the job ended, and I moved to Florida, and damn if life isn’t better.
Mind you, I think a congestion tax makes a lot of sense for NYC. But it punishes those who live in NJ who have shitty commute options thanks to Chris Christie vetoing the tunnel rebuild. That’s not NYC’s fault, but it still sucks. I think it’s going to be another obstacle for companies wanting to end remote work.
