Hey guys. I am a die hard Alabama fan/season ticket holder, but come in peace. I am planning on making the trip to NYC for the game. I live in Birmingham and this will only be my second time in NY. Just wanted to see if anybody has any recommendations on places to stay? Probably won’t stay in the city because of cost but how do yall feel about new jersey and taking the subway or path train into town? Also any thoughts on how much tickets might cost to a game like this one? Any thoughts and tips would be greatly appreciated. Look forward to seeing Madison Square Garden and seeing the best basketball coach of all time in person.
Jersey Guy here. If I was doing what you are doing and staying in the city was not an option, I’d like to stay in a place that I could walk to transit that brings me to MSG and I don’t want to have to change trains or do anything complicated. I’ve attached a link to the Path map
If you were to stay in NJ… Hoboken, Newport (Jersey City), Groove Street (JC), and Journal Square (Journal Square) will be straight shots to 33rd Street in NYC which is a block from MSG.
In order of expense Hoboken will be the most expensive, there’s a W Hotel right next to the PATH and plenty of bars and restaurants for your enjoyment.
Newport and Grove are probably the next most expensive places. Newport has a Marriot Courtyard right next to the Path and a Westin a short walk away. The bars and restaurants in this area are few unless you interested in a big old mall.
Grove has a Hilton and Residence Inn right near the path and it’s got a good selection of things to do nearby. There is a restaurant Razza that has the best pizza outside of Italy and I challenge any NYer to say otherwise.
Journal Square would be cheapest. I think the nearest brand name hotel is a Ramada. It’s not overly active at night. And I would consider it the least safe of all the options although it not unsafe enough that I’d would avoid the area.
There are also places you can take NJ Transit in from. Secaucus junction has trains has extremely frequent trains to Penn Station but hotels aren’t walkable and Secaucus doesn’t offer much in the way of a town.
Another option would be a Newark (around Newark Penn station instead of Newark broad as more trains go through Newark Penn and you can do a Path exchange if you need too) but I don’t think the savings would be worth the extra distance.