Where'd you go?

I feel like I owe an explanation because I haven't posted in a long time.  As of earlier this year, I stopped my insane commute, and traded the roads for the rails. Since moving my office location from New Jersey to midtown Manhattan, it's just not feasible to drive into work everyday. I now take a convenient express train to and from work, and walk about 30 blocks a day.

But I do miss driving. I miss my own music, the time to myself, and the crazy rage induced hi-jinks seen on the roads. But I don't miss the expense of it; With tolls topping $27.50 per day, plus gas and additional wear and tear, I am saving a ludicrous amount of money commuting by train. For example, assuming a 20-day work month, I am saving an astounding $445 per month. That's nearly enough to offset my rising healthcare premium... Almost. But gas will become more expensive soon, and the pensions in the Port Authority and MTA wont fund themselves, so you can bet that toll increases will continue to outpace inflation.

So whats the future of this venture? Now that I'm driving about 3 miles per day vs 107 miles, it seems silly of me to continue to write about things encountered on a commute. But I retain an intense passions for cars and automotive culture, and will always enjoy the flipping automobiles in the very little spare time I have. The blog will likely evolve in some way to cover automotive news and opinions, tips, ideas and trending topics.

I want to thank the people who have been reading and supporting this blog for the last few years. I am always astounded when I look at the traffic stats, and find that tens of thousands of people have visited this page. I'm going to continue to write about automotive stuff for metro NY, but its going to have to adapt to be authentic and true.

The Other Winner of the Super Bowl

For marketing people like me, The Super Bowl truly is a big game of another sorts. Its the time to see the best and brightest of the advertising world (who have the budget) show off their creativity on a global stage. There's a ton of articles out there about best and worst big game ads, with winners and losers. But to me, there was clearly only one winner this year, and it was this commercial by Audi for the R8 V10 Plus.

This ad had it all...it tugs on the heartstrings, instills patriotic pride and flaunts the new R8 both visually and delights the ears with a ripping exhaust note...all with gorgeous cinematography.

Watch it below.

Understanding Metro NY Traffic Acronyms and Abbreviations - Volume 1

Earlier this week, I’m driving up the NJTP, when I come across one of those electronic billboards that relay messages and traffic info which is occasionally correct. It mentioned road closures using the acronym “HRD”. 

I consider myself a pretty well-seasoned NY driver, but it took me a few minutes to realize that the sign was referring to the Harlem River Drive. Well actually it was the TME that was shutting HRD, from the GWB.  Sounds like a mouthful, right?

The point is, sometimes even us locals have a hard time deciphering the dictionary of abbreviations that they use when describing roads. I have collected a glossary of some of the most common ones in case you get stuck in the NY/NJ area.

• Belt -  the Belt Parkway in the boroughs, turns into the SSP in Long Island
• BK Bridge -  Brooklyn Bridge
• BQE -  Brooklyn Queens Expressway
• Bruckner / 278 -  The Bruckner Expressway
• CBE – Cross Bronx Expressway, also known as 95
• CCP -  Cross County Parkway
• CIP -  Cross Island Parkway
• CVE- Clearview Expressway, AKA I-295, also the best CIP alternative
• FDR -  FDR drive spans the east side of Manhattam
• GCP -  Grand Central Parkway
• GSP – Garden State Parkway
• GWB (UL and LL) – George Washington Bridge (Upper level and Lower level)
• HHP / Hen Hud Park – Henry Hudson Parkway
• Holl -  Holland tunnel
• HRD -  Harlem River Drive
• Hutch – the Hutchinson River Parkway
• JFK -  JFK Airport
• JRP -  Jackie Robinson Parkway
• LGA -  Laguardia Airport
• LIE / 495 -  the Long Island Expressway
• MDE / Deegan / 87 – Major Deegan Expressway, also know as the Thruway or I-87
• MSP -  Meadowbrook State Parkway in Long Island
• MT Tunn -  Midtown Tunnel
• NJTP -  NJ Turnpike, also known as I-95
• NSP -  Northern State Parkway in Long Island -  turns into the GCP once you hit queens
• OBC / 440 – OuterBridge Crossing
• OP - Ocean Parkway
• Pal -  Palisades Parkway
• QB bridge- Queensborogh Bridge
• RFK -  RFK or Triborough Bridge (It’s the same thing)
• RMP – Robert Moses Parkway. You only need this if you are going to the beach
• SAG -  Sagtikos Parkway
• SMP / Saw Mill -  The Saw Mill River Parkway
• Sprain / SBP -  the SprainBrook Parkway
• SSP – Southern State Parkway, turns into the Belt in Queens
• TNB -  Throgs Neck Bridge
• TZB /Tapp -  The Tappan-Zee Bridge
• VNB – Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
• WSB -  Whitestone Bridge
• WSH – West Side Highway spans the east side of Manhattan
• WSP- Wantagh State Parkway