NY Williamsburg Bridge, BQE? Need some advice (I'm nervous)

You can pretty safely set your clearance to 12'6" around New York City because that's actually 13'6" clearance for whatever reason that nobody knows.

 

MTA operates the toll bridges and tunnels within NYC. The non-tolled bridges - Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburgh, and Queensboro - are NYC DOT.

 

you’ll see it when you get there/ just follow the signs on the bridge for trucks-
Do NOT take the first exit across the bridge for 278!
Follow it back to tillary st; turn right on that and follow it to cadman plaza, right on that and follow to left onto 278

 

NYC DOT - Truck Routing

 

It's been years since I've taken the 59th st. bridge, but man, those gussets overhead on the right lane on the lower level always worried me. Still, never hit on at 13'6", and never saw anybody else hit one, but the damage they had told me that SOMEBODY was hitting them!
I would avoid at all costs the cantilevered section of the BQE, since they will soon be replacing it, and from what I've heard, they are already reducing lanes down from 3 to 2...

Rule #1 about driving in New York: ANYTHING that is called a "parkway" is illegal for trucks to be on, and also usually has very low clearances. You can thank Robert Moses for building all those convenient parkways that your rig will never fit on (although the GCP is 100 years old, so it predates Moses...)

Rule #2: Slide your tandems all the way forward, and watch your tail-swing.

Rule #3: If you get lost, the cops WILL help you get back legally...

Rule #4: No, you do NOT want anything that people who jump up on your steps are trying to sell to you! Check your mirrors; they probably have a friend cutting the seal off your doors at the same time....