Your quick travel guide to Brooklyn

Car Rental in Brooklyn

Brooklyn is quickly becoming the highlight of a visit to New York City, offering some of the most genuine and fantastic food throughout northeast America, as well as excellent street and nightlife. While you don’t need a car to explore Brooklyn thoroughly, Brooklyn is a great borough from which to rent a car for your road trip to Pennsylvania, New England, or beyond. Here is a brief guide to finding the cheapest rental cars in Brooklyn.

Important Facts about Brooklyn

Brooklyn is one of New York City’s five “boroughs,” or neighborhoods. It is located at the very end of Long Island and a direct neighbor to the borough Queens. Brooklyn is also connected to Staten Island and Manhattan by a number of bridges and/or tunnels.

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Brooklyn rental cars are available in 8 locations throughout the borough: downtown, on Coney Island Avenue, at Flatlands, Marine Park, Midwood, northeast, Park Slope, and in Brooklyn South. Brooklyn car hire typically starts at around $65 a day for short-term rentals.

Tips for Finding Cheap Car Rental in Brooklyn

One of the cheapest locations from which to rent a car in Brooklyn is at Brooklyn downtown, where renowned rental car companies Avis and Hertz compete to offer customers the cheapest daily rates. This is one the cheapest locations at which to rent a car from Hertz throughout the borough. In Park Slope, for instance, rental cars typically start at a rate of $10 more than they do downtown.

Regardless of which location you choose to pick up your rental car, you can typically save at least $20 a day by extending your rental period to over a week!

If you are willing to take the train, it is also possible that you can save on your rental car by booking cars from the John F. Kennedy International Airport, located in Brooklyn’s neighboring borough, Queens. Because JFK Airport is a popular spot for people to pick up rental cars for their travels through Brooklyn and beyond, over 7 rental car companies compete with one another to offer travelers the cheapest rates on NYC rental cars. JFK Airport rates typically beat the economy rental car rates of downtown Brooklyn by around $10 a day.

Key Things to Remember: Brooklyn Rental Cars

Driving a rental car in Brooklyn:

  • While driving in Brooklyn is not as stressful as driving in Manhattan, it is not a very fast or comfortable means of travel. Many roads are not well maintained and the ones that are are typically backed up with traffic.
  • Most drivers in NYC will tell you that rush hour is all day throughout the city, but if you can, you can probably save some travel time by avoiding the roads from 5 to 10 in the morning and from 4 to 8 in the evening.

Parking your rental car in Brooklyn:

  • If you are planning on staying in Brooklyn for more than a couple days, it is highly recommended that you stay in a hotel with complementary parking or that you simply return your car when you arrive and rent a new one when you leave.
  • Some street parking is free in the residential areas of Brooklyn. Check out www.nycparkingauthority.com for specific information on when and where you can park for free.
  • Otherwise, it is recommended that you take advantage of the frequent parking garages throughout the borough. Parking can be as cheap as $10 for 12 hours and $20 for 24 hours.

Toll roads, bridges, and tunnels in the Brooklyn area:

While most of the bridges and tunnels that link New York City to New Jersey and Connecticut are tolled, there are only two tolled connections from Brooklyn to the other boroughs of New York City:

  • The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to Staten Island is tolled westbound only, so you will have to pay a toll of $17 when you drive from Brooklyn to Staten Island in your rental car, but there is no toll when you return to Brooklyn. Ask your rental car company if your car has been outfitted with a transponder from the New York EZ-Pass Customer Service Center, which will give you a discounted price of under $12!
  • The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel connects Brooklyn to the southern tip of Manhattan (the Battery) and costs $8.50 to traverse in each direction. An EZ-Pass will save you about $1.75.

Most tolls are now collected electronically in and around New York City. If your rental car is not outfitted with an EZ-Pass, your car’s license plate will be photographed on any of the tolled throughways you use. Your rental car company will then pass the tolls onto you. Be sure to ask your rental car company if any surcharges apply to your use of tolled roads.