Thanks for the comments above.
Had quite a day yesterday, with the EV rally in Westport, dinner and show in NYC, and back to Boston after the show.
Here are some notes on my experience:
- Most garages in NYC are as indicated above - not EV friendly, and not Tesla friendly - and we should all boycott Beam - the net price is more than for petrol
- There are exceptions - i found a garage on 24th street and 6th that has two free 1772s and was reasonably civil on the phone - and would allow self-park as the 1772's were at the entrance - this was very close - but they insisted on leaving the keys, and cars were crammed so close i didn't feel ok with that - but its a consideration - also, there is a list of 30 or so self-park garages, such as port authority - don't recall the link, but easy to find
- I ended up using the Tesla store's garage, and this time they were reasonable friendly (last time very nasty - seems like one employee there) - they allowed me to self-park (hard 90 degrees against a stone wall with a large utility truck next to the tesla spot - but it worked ok and was able to top off in just over two hours (charged to 250, slightly over normal, but not range)
- Spent some time in the NY store - THEY NEED A NEW DOOR - they have more than enough space for their demo car and 3 customer cars, but the S doesn't fit throught the door due to it's architecture - cmon George - this one is a no-brainer for the store and NE customers!
- The store is ok with a few hours of usage, but needs the spot back at night for charging for demos - especially on the weekend - good news is garage doesn't charge your $44 if you use the Tesla slot, which was great - Paul and Ken were most helpful
- After charging and having dinner at the Half King (pretty good pub food), we found that several blocks in NYC open for parking at 7PM free of charge - e.g., 50th between 8th and 10th - which is convenient to theatre. So our routine is now charging in Milford (or soon to be Darien), topping off on 25th street, and heading uptown to park
- After theater, we had 241 miles rated for our trip back to the PRM. On the Merritt, i told my wife we'd land with 15 miles. Had to set cruise to 67 to be safe, but better than going up 95 or topping off at Auburn 1772's. We pulled into the garage with 13 miles - and put the car in park - and just then the low battery warning presented - just perfect! If i range charged, would have made Boston city.
- Met a CT DOT guy at Westport - he was raving about how great it was to work with Tesla - he was the initiator of Milford, and indicated we'll see a Darien station by fall - as Milford usage is up - and likely to see reservations for charging slots soon