We are traveling in April. Not sure if what I have read about the train & Hurricane Sandy damage will still be an issue then??

For three people, taking the train from Newark Airport (service has been fully restored on the line you need) would cost $12.50 per person each way, plus you'd prpbably need a taxi from Penn Station NY to 50th street with thatluggage (another $10 or $15 if traffic is bad)so a total of around $50 and some dragging suitcases around and up and down some stairs

$70 is about what a car service would cost you for door to door service, so you may decide it's worth the extra money to take one or go with the apt owner's offer

Not to rock the boat, but someone will say it so it might as well be me.
Most short term (less than 30 days)apartment rentals in NYC are illegal. Listings on AirBNB, VRBO, Craigslist etc still exist but they may be illegal, or they may be scams,or not what you think, or they may be fine.
It's up to you to figure out what to do with that information

I would be more concerned about renting an illegal apartment than about transportation.

car service
I like www.carmellimo.com

You have too much luggage for the train. I'd take a car service. But if you do it will cost more than $70. So the pickup seems a god deal indeed.

I would not want to be hauling all that luggage around on trains, escalators and in cabs/through the streets.

If your apartment is real and the person will pick you up for $70 that's a deal - a car service will be more - due to paying for the tunnel toll and tip (20%).

Dial and Carmel are two reliable car ervices. You can get discounts on the web sites and have to arrange the car in advance.

If you are willing to schlep all that luggage you can save a few $. I think the airport bus to the city plus cab to hotel will be the same price but less schlepping.

Oh - and yes, your apt is almost surely illegal. Perhaps a scam. Perhaps real and not as promised. You take your chances.

I would do whatever I could to confirm that it actually exists and is as described (do you have references, checked the specific address on google earth?).

I recall one person had rented an apartment with the address of a community garden - not a building.

Appreciate the concern. We are renting the apartment through a friends friend who owns the apartment. We have visitied it before just never stayed there.

Sounds like the pick-up offer is a good one. We will look into other options as well. Appreciate the feedback.

Thank you all.

You can probably rest assured that the apartment actually exists because your friend knows this person.

However, just because your friend's friend owns the apartment, it does not automatically mean that it is legal for your friend's friend to rent it to others. If the friend's friend owns the entire building, then the rental is probably legal. If not, the apartment rental is most likely illegal according to New York State law as well as possibly illegal according to the propriety lease of the building that your friend's friend signed at the time of purchase.