Dumbo NYC

Notes from the DUMBO, Brooklyn NY neighborhood


Promenade Car Service Moves to 151 Front St.

March 3rd, 2009

The Promenade Car Service has moved to from 102 Front Street (next to La Bagel Delight) to 151 Front Street (across from J Condo). Anyone know what will be replacing them at 102 Front?

Promenade Car Service
(New location)

Promenade Car Service
(Old location)

There are some mixed reviews on Citysearch, but the few times we have called for them, they were reliable and quick. Please comment below if you’d like to share your experiences with them.

Promenade Car Service
151 Front Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
718-858-6666

Filed in Dumbo Retail and Businesses, Front Street at 11:33 am
Comments
  • Yahweh Or The Highway
    These clowns charge a ridiculous premium over Aricebo (http://www.yelp.com/biz/arecibo-car-service-bro...) and Yellow Cabs(if you can find them), since they are the only Car Service in Dumbo. $18 from 100 Jay Street to Franny's on Flatbush.

    I will never call these jokers again.
  • fafafooey
    those drivers always stare at my girlfriend's ass when we walk the dog by them
  • Sam
    Agreed. Promenade way over-charges. I'd rather drag my luggage up the hill and flag a yellow cab. Example, going from Dumbo to Grand Central, max I pay in a yellow cab $16-$17. Promenade charges $25-$27. Ridiculous!!! Thanks for the recommendation! I will take my business to Arecibo next I go to the airport--just from the quoted rates on their website they charge $10-$15 less than Promenade.
  • anon
    I don't love Promenade, the copious quantities of cigarette smoke, both in the cars and in the storefront make me gag, but the new place is much cleaner and so far doesn't smell like smoke. At certain times of the day getting a yellow cab is nearly impossible, I'll try for about 5 minutes but then go to promenade if no cabs come by. I think they may have lowered their prices, which I agree are insanely high.
  • bambino
    PROMENADE SUCKS!! AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS!!
    My family and I have tried promenade a couple of times and we were very dissatisfied every single time.
    The drivers are the rudest, nastiest of them all.
    I was 10 minutes late one day because they were calling my cell phone (which I asked them not to do) instead of my home phone to tell me that they had arrived and they insisted in charging me another $20 in "late fees" because of it.
    Another time, they charged my daughter and I $25 to go from Dumbo to the East Village and the third time, the driver said he "did not like the things my friend and I we were saying while passengers in his car" (we were gossiping about tv shows, friends, work, etc. - normal stuff, nothing funny - he said he thought we were obnoxious!) and asked us not to call the car service again!
    The last time we called them we were taken to the airport and had booked a return pick up and they never showed. After we called the office, they said they had it on the schedule but will not send a car out until after we had exited the airport and called them, baggage in hand. In the half hour plus it takes them to drive to the airport, we could have hopped a yellow cab and been home! They thought nothing of leaving us stranded at the airport with the only option of prolonging our trip another hour of waiting time until they decided to show up.
    Finally, whenever you call the manager to complain about the something, the manager has the most peculiar sense of customer service - the drivers are always right and the customers always wrong - he is a real jerk. You would think they would be nicer to the residents of dumbo as this is a prime opportunity to pick up some regular business but they are just the worst.
    We call Heights Limo now and have had no problem.
  • anon
    I will say that the drivers often have no idea where they're going. You have to watch them like hawks and know exaqctly how to get where you're going. I had one driver drive right by the street that I needed and keep driving. It was a 1 way street so I assumed he was just driving up a block so he could go around and get on the one way in the right direction. But he kept going and going, finally I asked him where he thought he was going, that the street was about 5 blocks behind us.

    Another one did something similar, going completely out of the way to get to Worth Street, but I was paying attention and caught him faster.
  • Angus Young
    You guys just now figured this out? I stopped using them within 6 months of the time they opened because of their exceedingly high rates. Never had a rude/obnoxious driver problem though.

    I use Myrtle or Arecibo now and both are fast, reliable, and reasonably priced.
  • Anon
    Arecibo is the best. 718-783-6464.

    Was told that New Bell @ 718-230-4499 is super fast to arrive and low cost too. Anyone have any feedback about them?
  • Why here?
    Overpriced rates aside... I am really not happy with this move. The drivers are now lining up their cars in front of J Condo, preventing residents from being able to pull up in front of the building to drop off groceries or other items needing easy access for offloading. The block between Pearl and Jay St. is busy enough without adding the extra headache of idling livery cars. At least in the old location, the base was not directly in front of a large residential building and the drivers could easily idle on the wide street near Foragers... not bothering anyone. This new location is BAD and I can only see it getting worse as the weather gets warmer and the drivers tend to "hang out" near the base waiting for calls. I wonder if anything can be done about this?
  • I'm here to defend Promenade. The best thing they do is take up all that "no standing" space along Front street so all the J Condotrolls can't unload their groceries from Fairway. Hahaha!
  • God Why here? that's funny. 2 different ways of looking at the same thing. I guess you think that J Condo actually improved the neighborhood. So funny!
  • Oh FWIW. That building where their old office is residential from the first floor up. Didn't see you defend those poor people against car fumes.
  • Why here?
    Who is talking about car fumes??? I'm specifically talking about having DROP OFF room for the common task of unloading groceries or other heavy bulky items. If the cabs parked away from the entrance of the building I wouldn't care so much.
  • Why here?
    As for your other two trollish comments... I'm sorry that you are so bitter. Sounds like jealousy to me. I actually do think that J Condo has improved the neighborhood... among other thing, we've brought in the area's 1st pharmacy and soon a much needed additional eatery (Choice Market). Love us or hate us, we are here to stay!!!

    Now Promenade on the other hand...
  • You used the term "idle" twice which to me implies pollution. In fact they generally don't "idle" their cars, they stand around outside and smoke, unless it's really cold. I don't know why you think J Condo deserves some kind of special treatment. Who ever design the building should have allowed for a traffic circle. You have no right to the street space on Front St.
  • Actually Nate's opened first. You've heard of Nate's haven't you? Oh sorry I forgot they're in the colored neighborhood.
    Choice Market, a glorified Drunken Gonuts!
    Here to Stay!!! I guess so. Lucky Dumbo.
  • Why here?
    Oh really??? So Promenade has the right to "stand" as you put it... in a NO STANDING zone? The residents use the space as intended... DROP OFF ONLY.

    As someone pointed out in another thread, Loose Stool, you must be a lawyer cause you are able to come up with some truly BS arguements, just for the sake of being a jerk/troll.
  • "Loose Stool, you must be a lawyer", Hey why here, I didn't call you names!
    I didn't realize the Maybech was, how did you say it?, Oh, "unloading groceries or other heavy bulky items". You're a funny guy, Busta!
  • Angus Young
    Why here....it's s waster of time to talk to this guy. He thinks he's the all knowing wise one who is always right when in reality he's just an obnoxious troll who clearly has plenty of time on his hands as evidenced by his frequent posts. This guy has diarrhea of the mouth.
  • bambino
    yeah, no one on this blog likes loose stool. you can see where loose stool posts, others fall away. I know of dozens of people who have stopped reading this dumbo blog because they can't stand the looseness of the stool and moderator can't/won't muzzle him. i pity the loose stool, what a sad guy in desperate need of professional help. Disregard him.
  • boo boo
    loose stool is funny and says things I agree with from time to time.
  • bryana
    Yeah, this blog used to be interesting but there are too many rude, nasty, spoiled, critical people who post and some just doing so for to be provocative. Loose stool is like the only one who posts on every thread all day, every day and too much; its tiresome to only hear from loose stool. This guy has waaaayyy too much time on his hands. With all that is happening is the world - is no fun to read the blog when one loser dominates everything.
  • BrooklynLove
    apparently you have just as much time to read all of his/her posts.
  • bryana
    So what's your point brooklynlove? What do you care? - this is exactly what I mean - sport sniper - this blog used to be interesting but there are too many rude, nasty, spoiled, critical people who post and some just doing so for to be provocative - like you, too - sheesh what is the point?
  • Angus Young
    It doesn't matter BLove...if you live in DUMBO and read the blog daily or weekly for neighborhood tidbits you can't help but read all of his posts because he posts EVERYWHERE on EVERY single thread EVERY DAY.
  • I've had mostly decent experiences with Promenade. Switched back to them after a disastrous experience with one of the services in the Heights. Their prices are definitely higher than taxis, but good luck finding a taxi in DUMBO proper. Their prices seemed comparable to the previous incarnation of Cadman/River (before the current "under new management" incarnation).

    Arecibo seems to station two or three cars idling by the Starbucks in the evening, which may explain how they get cars to DUMBO so "quickly".

    As far as blog comments go: no one's anonymous here, you can all be tracked pretty easily by anyone with any real motivation to do so.
  • BrooklynLove
    bryana - the point is that calling someone out for posting a lot is the most mindless, pathetic, unsophisticated contribution in the history of chatboards. it entirely fails to address the substance of a post in lieu of lodging a generic personal attack on the poster. it's the weakest response around, contributes nothing to the discussion and has zero relevance. so my point is that your post is more of a drag than any LS post.
  • Mike
    BrooklynLove, your above post was a drag. I'm with Bryana... LS contaminates most threads and prevents me from reading all the the comments. The one bright spot was in the 133 Water St thread where he came out of character and provided intelligent and useful info... actually I believe in that same thread, BrooklynLove, you got served. Apparently, he's a much better lawyer than you!
  • carobot
    i'm with bryana and mike, but back to the topic at hand...i've never much liked promenade but i recently discovered a real find: eastern car service. they charge very reasonable prices to get to the airports, and are always friendly and on time. as for new bell, i've had enough with arecibo and i've started using new bell exclusively for short trips around brooklyn.
  • As readers of this blog know, I'm all for open, unedited communication. Discussion is good, but sometimes heated debates can lead to useless and immature flaming. Ignore them. No one has time to police comments, so I'm counting on everyone to stick to comment etiquette, like a civil conversation in a person’s home:

    - stay on topic
    - contribute new information to the discussion
    - don’t comment for the sake of commenting
    - remember that nobody likes a know-it-all
    - cite your sources
    - be courteous
    - do not feed the trolls

    Please comment with respect.

    On this car service topic, someone mentioned they prefer cabs but they're sparse around here. For those who don't mind taking a cab, the best place to catch a cab is on Prospect Street and Washington Street, where many empty taxis are heading back to Manhattan via the Brooklyn or Manhattan Bridge.
  • loose stool
    The one thing Bl and me agree on is that a good robust debate is more important than censoring anybody. He stands up for himself and takes it unlike the rest of you wallflowers. I get some good one liners in but he is a better writer. Regarding the Water street mess? BL's last post on that matter is at the least a 50/50 possibility. You people need to grow a thicker skin.
  • kevin135
    Promenade is over-priced and their service is certainly nothing special.

    I recommend Metroline. 718 388 1111. Their drivers are knowledgeable and cars usually arrive fast, although there are sometimes delays on Friday or Saturday nights.
  • anon
    LS. You don't get any good one liners in.
  • BrooklynLove
    Oh yeah, I forgot that I was here to talk ish about Promenade. Completely agree that they aim to serve suckers. Mike and Bryana are repeat customers. Just kidding!

    maybe now that the prom is parking over by Jay their windows will get jacked.
  • zzzzzzzzzzz
    Shut up Loose Stool. For the love of all that's holy shut...the...f***...up.
  • loose stool
    zzzzzzzzzzz, "I am your Faaaather!"
  • 27J
    I don’t like the fact they take up all the parking space in and around J condo(front street). I have a driver so I don’t use their service often. But the times that I have I’ve come to find that they’re overpriced and most of the time they have no idea where to go, I have to give them direction. I haven’t experienced any rude drivers. I’ve used New bell and so far no complaints, I recommend new bell.
  • loose stool
    zzzzzzzzzzz, “Wazzzuuup!”

    zing.
  • Hank
    there was an article about Arecibo car service in this past weeks New York Magazine. Dispatcher is a teenager.
  • zzzzzzzzzzz
    loose stool, I can here you typing. Please stop! NOW!
  • After a few experiences with Promenade I basically consider them a last and dire resort. They seem to charge more than other services... had some friends get told it would be $40 to go to Billyburg, and these were not rich looking or hipster doofus looking people. I've never found them to be very friendly, fast or even good with directions on the few occasions I had to use them. I usually take Legends or Arecibo, or walk up to Clinton Street to find a Yellow Cab.

    Whoever inherits their old space is going to need a hazmat team to clear out the inch thick orange cigarette residue from the place. Hope it isn't an eatery...
  • DOT
    The owners of the old location immediately put up a security door and window guards as soon as Promenade moved to Jay st. For some reason, I don't think the space will be used for any useful commercial purpose anymore.
  • WaterSt
    Promenade only charges $25 to get to Tribeca, and $35 to West Village. What a bargain! Unfortunately dry cleaning my suit for cigarette smoke and middle eastern food is not included in those prices :-(
  • Anonymous
    Not sure what your issue is with them. Have been using them since 1993 (They used to be at Montague then) for airport trips (LGA/JFK/EWR) and never had a problem including pick-up at the airport. Drivers never got lost. There was one driver who wanted a higher fare at the end of the trip than I was quoted, and after speaking to the dispatcher it was cleared up. I ALWAYS ask how much the fare is at time of booking. Maybe being a foreigner myself I am more tolerant to other people aka smelling like middle eastern food or actually having a conversation with them.
  • Sam
    WaterSt, you really think $25 to Tribeca is a deal?? Consider the same fare in a Yellow cab would cost you $8-$10 max. Same is true of a fare to the West Village. Or perhaps you were being sarcastic??? Also, as a former resident of B. Heights, I don't recall them being such rip-off artists when located in the Heights. Perhaps it was because of the ready availability of Yellow cabs driving down Clinton Street. Now that they're located in DUMBO they've become price-gougers--not unlike so many other businesses in this hood.
  • loose stool
    According to the people who live in the building another car service will be moving in. More evidence that Dumbo is nothing more than a bedroom community.
  • All these guys do is smoke cigarettes and hang out in the street trying to pick up girls. These guys all look like extras in the "body of lies" movie.
  • Nicole
    What does bedroom community mean?
  • BrooklynLove
    if they charge anything close to reasonable pricing, promenade will be forced to come down.

    i'll stick with the subway.
  • dumbo lover
    Can't we block Loose Stool? I hardly ever read this blog anymore because of him and a couple of others like him. Can"t the moderator limit some of his responses? Does he have a job?life/family?
  • clk123
    What's wrong with Choice? I live in Clinton Hill and it's good.
    As for Prom....over priced yes, drivers mean I haven't had a problem .... the airport thing is a problem I wont be using them again. New bell is good 718 230 4499 not perfect but ok, Myrtle is good 718 230 8100 you can get a nasty car though with both.
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