Parking and Unloading at Westminster

Parking and Unloading at the Piers

By the end of day one, the verdict on Westminster’s new show site was pretty unanimous. It’s definitely  more spacious and comfortable for dogs and exhibitors. But there is a very definite trade off for this comfort.

And that starts at the beginning. Whether they were driving or using the shuttles provided by Westminster, everyone agreed that it was a long, time consuming trip. The only tactic to shorten the wait was getting a jump on Midtown weekday traffic by heading over there before 6:00 A.M. By all accounts, the bus trip was about 20 minutes that time of the day. I gave it a test run about two hours later. 

By then, it was raining hard. Exhibitors got soaked looking for the bus stop, which turned out to be on 7^th at the south end of the block between the Affinia and Pennsylvania. We waited about 15 minutes for the bus. It took another 15 minutes to get everyone onboard and organized. The crosstown trip was very slow that time of the day. In total, my shuttle took slightly over an hour.

But the passengers took it in stride. No one had taken any chances on missing their ring time. Most of the 8:00 AM commuters were planning to show around noon. As long as you’re not in a hurry, it’s a great opportunity to chat and meet new dog friends. I tried the shuttle one more time today, off peak. Around 2:00, I boarded the bus that stops in front of the New Yorker. It was equally slow- and that was two hours before rush hour.

Bus queues may be quite long when benching hours end at 6:00, and no one has the benefit of staggered arrival and departure times. Then again, every exhibitor is dreading mass exodus from the venue at 6:00.

Those who opted to drive in had mixed bag of experiences. Again, if you arrived before 6:00, you faced a shorter wait and better possibilities of parking on the roof. But regardless of your arrival time, you had a 45 minute wait in queue that snaked along 57^th Street to the unloading zone. One hardy exhibitor noted that at least you were warm and dry sitting in your car. Exhibitors who arrived alone faced the biggest challenge. According to the premium list you can’t leave your car unattended. And that’s tricky if for a lone exhibitor.

Overall, waiting to unload, driving to the parking lot, and walking back required at least an hour. Add time to that estimate if you have to hunt around for a parking lot after the roof lot fills up.

See you tomorrow!

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Posted by Amyfernandez on Feb 11 2013. Filed under Around The Ring Galleries. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.