interstate movers down the streets

They'll probably have to park miles away, and bring in their belongings by oxcart. I don't know who picks up the tab for that, but the cart driver picks up the ox dung.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 3:50 PM

Unfortunately its your problem.

Best bet is to time it right after street cleaning.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 3:57 PM

This happened many years ago to my husband. The moving company came to deliver, then called to tell him that the truck wouldn't fit down the street. He had to pay for them to take the stuff back to a smaller truck, re-load it, and come back, so it was very expensive.

I suggest you first tell the moving company that a smaller truck is needed for delivery, and see what they say, rather than wait until the last minute to hear that they won't deliver without alot of extra charge. I think if it is one of the big nationwide moving companies, they have various size trucks available for delivery, and would probably give you one price quote for it all. But make sure they promise in advance to have a correct truck size.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 4:36 PM

What they did for me when I moved out of p.s. last year with was to send in a 55-foot truck (which they consider a short truck, though it looked plenty long to me - about as long as a brownstone is deep) to load, and then they took it all off that truck somewhere else and reloaded it onto one of the longer interstate vans to drive to my new city. Then they had to do the same in reverse to bring it into my new city's neighborhood, which also had narrow access streets - they do this all the time. (They'll do the reverse for you - but you need to make sure they know about the narrow streets ahead of time - your van line might think they can fit a big truck - but United didn't think they could for me, and it was a good thing they got that.)

Even with the 'short" truck, when there are cars parked on both sides (if you are on a side street for sure, don't know about the avenues), the truck will block the street so cars can't get past - which you can't do. Although United sent out a guy to scout my street and my stuff weeks before the move, he didn't pay any attention to the street cleaning/parking issues (and I forgot to mention them, not having had to move in awhile, and local NYC movers always know to ask about when the street is clear of cars for street cleaning so they can move you around those hours.)

So when the movers came (they are local moving companies that the van lines contract with, so mine were from Connecticut), they were a bit put out that they didn't have a clear street to park on. On day 1, they just packed my stuff, so they parked on 7th Ave., but they wanted me to get the police to mark the street as having moving the next day so no one would park there, which according to the movers, police do elsewhere. Not in NYC, according to the police when I went to the precinct to ask - you're on your own. Which explains why I've seen others with long pieces of tape and hand made signs on the street saying "moving van coming tomorrow" and asking people not to park there. Which can be an iffy strategy if people don't comply. (The signs I've seen were taped around cars, encouraging their owners to move them. But their owners might live not on the block, but blocks away). So you'd have to put the signs up before the end of the prvious street cleaning car-moving day, which could be days earlier, so you may not get compliance in any event.

What I'd do if I were you is what I've always done when I moved within the neighborhood with NYC movers - plan to have them arrive during the street cleaning time, so that the coast is clear for them to park in front of the building. Make sure they are not late, but come shortly after the cars are moved for cleaning. Or block off the spaces if they are late so no one puts their car back there. And make sure you check the DOT's parking calendars to make sure it isn't some obscure religious holiday, or the cars won't have to be moved. And if it snows, well, you can't help that, they'll just have to reschedule for the next street cleaning day after street cleaning has been reinstated. (Have had the unfortunate experience of having scheduled an intra-neighborhood move on a day when there was a big blizzard and the p.s. side streets weren't plowed - had to wait a week for my stuff that time.)

My move worked out only because I was near 7th Ave., and not far from my door was a clear spot for driveways on my street - the 55-foot truck was able to park on front of the driveways, and only had to move when someone needed to drive in or out. But that was a very lucky house placement, and one you won't have if you aren't near a corner with commercial driveways. Good luck. And remember, people do it all the time....

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 4:47 PM

4:47 again -

forgot to mention that you will need to mark off the other side of the street with tape and chairs and stuff so people won't double park there during the street cleaning, else your truck (along with double parked cars) will block the street.

Or have them arrive at least a half hour BEFORE street-cleaning hours, and then they can double park across the street so no one double parks across the street, and then they can move the truck over to your side of the street so that you can be in front of your building before the cars are moved back again.

Depending on the width of your street and on the cars parked there, smaller cars can get around the short truck even with cars parked on both sides, but anything larger (and larger stuff does come by all the time during the day) will force them to move the truck, which they won't like (it will take forever to unload). So you do really need to do all this. With luck, your local movers will be NYC based and will get all of this.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 5:09 PM

Wait! Where I live (in Park Slope), street cleaning day means "everyone double park for 2 hours day". Which means that there are still all the cars on the block. And, on the blocks where there's a bike lane, they have to leave that clear, so they take up even more room!

Just another thing to consider in this absurdity! Good luck!

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 5:12 PM

People do it all the time....part of the absurdity is that we live in charming old neighborhoods built before there were trucks. A reminder of how differently we live in old cities from those in the rest of the country.

What killed me was to the movers, a "short" truck was a 55-footer - they didn't have the ability to bring in anything smaller, even though my stuff didn't require such a big truck. Would have been much easier had they brought a smaller truck, or two if need be...

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 5:20 PM

Because they'll be shifting your boxes several times you might want to consider the added expense of having them pack for you. At least have them do the kitchen and furniture so that they are responsible for damage. If something is busted because they just toss and drop things when nobodies there to oversee the truck to truck transfer, they'll blame your poor packing job. It's easier to complain if they did the packing. Worked for me on LA to NY.

Posted by: guest at December 4, 2007 11:04 PM

Well, it could be the movers' problem initially, but it will quickly become your parents' problem when the movers can't get down the street. Best to disclose and confirm this detail upfront.

Posted by: guest at December 5, 2007 3:33 PM

The standard length of a semi-tractor trailer (which means the box without the cab, the part where the driver sits) is 53' and I believe that 53' is the longes length of a single box you'll see on the road. Tandem trailers feature shorter boxes, although the overall length may well exceed 53'.

So I think the above posters meant that the movers brought in something not only shorter (probably around 24', like a big U-haul) but something not as wide (also like a U-haul.)

Most reputable nationwide movers will know that they have to switch to a shorter and smaller truck right before they get to NYC, and that they will sometimes need to make two trips from wherever they do the transfer. In my move from California they did the transfer in Jersey, near Elizabeth, and they were able to get all of my stuff in the smaller truck so it only took one pass.

The bad thing is that it was crappy rainy weather and they got some of my stuff wet, while breaking a few things that probably would have survived if they didn't have to do the stupid transfer.

Bottom line? Moving to and from NYC is a total pain in the ass.

Posted by: guest at December 5, 2007 4:37 PM

You could get a D.O.T. permit to close the street. Pain in the ass and probably not worth it.

Posted by: guest at December 5, 2007 11:18 PM

4:37 was right - it must have been the 55-footer they DIDN'T bring into Brooklyn - I got confused, as it has been awhile, and the one they did bring, while shorter, was way longer than any other truck any movers I ever hired used.

Posted by: guest at December 6, 2007 5:09 PM