Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer in New York, and it’s also one of the heaviest travel weekends of the year — Friday afternoon traffic out of the city can start building well before rush hour as everyone heads for the Hamptons, the Jersey Shore, and Long Island beaches at once. Here’s what’s actually happening around the city that weekend, and how to plan around it.
NYC’s Memorial Day parades
New York doesn’t have one single Memorial Day parade — several neighborhoods run their own. Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge parade dates back to 1919 and is one of the oldest continuously running Memorial Day parades in the country, closing a long stretch of Third Avenue for most of a morning. Staten Island and Little Neck-Douglaston in Queens run their own neighborhood parades too, each closing local streets for a few hours. None compare to Manhattan traffic in scale, but if your route runs through Bay Ridge, Staten Island, or eastern Queens that morning, expect detours.
The weekend exodus
The bigger disruption isn’t the parades — it’s the exodus. The Friday before Memorial Day is consistently one of the worst traffic days of the year on the Long Island Expressway, the Hamptons Jitney routes, and the approaches to the Verrazzano and George Washington bridges, as the city empties out toward beach towns for the long weekend. If you’re catching a flight that Friday or Saturday, build in real extra time — airport traffic follows the same pattern.
Getting to the beach without driving it yourself
A lot of clients use Memorial Day weekend to book a car straight out to the Hamptons, the Jersey Shore, or a Long Island beach rather than drive themselves — since you’re sitting in the same traffic either way, letting someone else handle it means the weekend starts relaxed instead of white-knuckling the LIE. Our hourly service also covers Memorial Day parties, family cookouts, and multiple stops across boroughs in a single afternoon.
When the Return Trip Gets Worse Than the Drive Out
Sunday and Monday afternoon are usually worse than the Friday exodus, everyone leaving the Hamptons, the Jersey Shore, and Long Island beach towns at once creates a return crush on the Long Island Expressway and the Belt Parkway that can run for hours. Checking 511NY before heading back gives a real-time read on which route is actually moving, rather than guessing based on the usual pattern. For a same-day beach trip without an overnight stay, an early departure beats fighting the mid-morning crowd, and a mid-afternoon return beats waiting for the 5 or 6 PM crush that builds every Memorial Day Monday. Families splitting a group across multiple cars often find it simpler to book one larger vehicle for everyone instead, no coordinating separate departure times or losing anyone in beach traffic along the way.
If you’re staying in the city instead of heading out, the Bay Ridge parade route along Third Avenue is worth checking ahead of time if you live nearby or plan to drive through Brooklyn that morning. Local street closures typically lift by early afternoon, well before the bigger beach-return traffic sets in later in the day.
Book ahead for the holiday
Manhattan VIP Limo has served the New York area since 2007, with a fleet built for everything from a solo airport run to a full family group heading to the beach for the weekend. Memorial Day weekend is one of the busiest of the year for car service — the earlier you book, the more vehicle options you’ll have for Friday and Saturday pickups. Sedans work well for a couple or a small family, while an SUV or Sprinter van gives more room for coolers, beach chairs, and everyone’s bags on a day trip out and back.