Not including plus Carmel and Tel Aviv [666-6666 and 777-7777, respectively] I have at least ten NYC car service numbers lodged in brain. [Funny what a decade of late nights at the office and constant travel'll do to you.] I just dialled them all and asked about car seats. Here's the tally of their unequivocal "No's":
Do you have any cars with a car seat?: 12
Do you know anyone who has some?: 10
The other two said, "Nobody does that" and "No way, man, nobody does that."
There you go, nobody. Except, as it turns out, Tri-State Limousine, which charges $25 for the car seat for either an airport run or for hourly usage around town ($40/hr, 2 hr minimum).
UPDATE: Based on the variety of responses in the comments, the original, cranky tone of this post doesn't seem all that relevant anymore. Here's a list of other car services in NYC that offer car seats:
No experience with this, but I've read on UB that New Family is the car service to call for autos with car seats. Is that not true anymore?
After our daughter was born, I called the car service my company uses, Empire, since we were heading to the airport. I asked if they had car seats and they said YES. Even asked me the age of my daughter so they could provide the right seat. I was psyched.
Unfortunately, when they arrived there was no car seat. The driver said the reservation didn't have a car seat listed on it and if he had to have one, it would be a half hour wait for him to drive to Queens, pick it up, then drive back.
But the good news is that they do provide them (hopefully they still do). 212-239-6100
[hmm, odd. Empire was one of the ones I called. -ed.]
We've been looking for local NYC car services to take around town with two kids when taxis are too much of a pain (i.e., around 4pm). Carmel and Tel Aviv have 2 hour minimums. Anyone know of any services that don't have minimums and are good for this sort of thing?
OK, MEH...only because I like Greg so much and I respect his readers but here's the scoop. Delancey Car Service. (212)228-3301. $35/hour. No minimums. No need for advance bookings. Not only that but many times you can call them when it's pouring rain outside and you need to head uptown but a million people are looking for cabs. Often, you can just tell them where you are and where you're going, and they'll give you a very cheap flat rate. Sometimes only a few bucks more than a yellow cab.
Shhh...don't tell anyone. It's one of NYC's best-kept secrets.
[AND I learned how to say Gracias por llamada Delancey Car Service... y todo las tarjetas de credita from their recording. Unfortunately, they laughed at me when I asked about car seats. They DO, however, provide SUV's on request, so you can make like the cast of That 70's Show when you roll. -ed.]
Computer Car, who my company uses, offers them, too. [http://www.computercar.net/] We ended up bringing our own on a recent trip anyway, so we didn't have to worry about the rental car company providing one too.
music express has car seats, really nice ones, better than ours.
Not really helpful, but I think 777-7777 is now "Dial 7" not Tel Aviv. (Same dumb ads though.) Me thinks Tel Aviv was too...how to put this, ethnic.
hey--legends has car seats available. also, any time you have a question like this, don't bother doing the research yourself, just log on to the urban baby nyc board and use the wisdom (yes, there really is wisdom there, sometimes) of the group.
[yeah, 100 times bitten, 101 times shy... -ed.]
Legends may have car seats but your chances of getting a rude dirver who will start screaming at you about how bad the business is or how much he hates his passengers is greater than with any other car service in town. There drivers are often good, but when they are bad they are bad. One driver made my daughter cry and another chased my friend down the street with his son because they asked to get out after the driver began screaming obscenities. Steer clear!
[yow. -ed.]
I actually used this list when I went to NYC last month with our 10 month old. I ended up using Computer Car and it was great, but the price was outrageous.
They charged a normal-ish fee of about $100 to meet you in the luggage area and drive into manhattan from JFK, and about $90 for the trip back.
BUT
They also charged for the driver's time to go get a car seat, then drive back to meet us. It was a nice roomy towncar and the driver was totally professional and loved to talk about his kids and our baby, but the cost ended up being more than double what I expected.
[ouch, and outrageous. I've never heard of that. the beauty of Denalis, though, is you never see a bill; your husband gets it (sic).-ed.]
Sweet Christ. I was just on hold with New Family for 25 minutes and I got disconnected. They won't talk to me when I call - not even for a second, they will only put me on hold. I am so furious. Forget it! I also called Empire. They were very nice, but with a car seat and their added 20% gratuity, it comes to $120 bucks. What a pain.
[ouch. at least their future Google results will give people a heads up. -ed.]
We started Kid Car NY (www.KidCarNY.com) to address all of the issues mentioned above. Not only will you get a car seat, but it will be the RIGHT car seat and it will be PROFESSIONALLY installed. All of the vehicles are stroller-friendly luxury minivans and we travel to airports, too.- Topher McGibbon, CEO, Kid Car NY, LLC
Yeah, but kid car is ridiculouslly expensive if you need it to go to the arpt - $80 p/hr w/a 2hr minimum...
Crestwood Limousine, www.crestwoodlimo.com, has car seats for $10.
I can't believe these guys would charge so much for a car seat. I don't think I can use them based on principle. I don't even need a car seat.