Best time to leave Brooklyn on a Friday?

You mean the best time to leave b/c of traffic?

Any time after 10pm and the traffic will be ok, barring an accident.

Leaving at 3 am seems a little excessive to me.

when i drive up to MA to visit family, i leave brooklyn between 7 and 8 p.m. and don't hit much traffic anywhere, though you might run into some road work in connecticut--it seems like they're always tearing something up in the middle of the night. just stay on 278 until you hit 95; forget all that 495-to-678 crap.

Mougar wrote: Take the Merritt parkway instead of 95, way faster.

Better not take the U Haul on the Merritt or we'll be seeing you on Fox News that night!

GVWR of a loaded Econoline van is 11,500 lbs. over the limit.
The chances are good you could make it a short distance, but it is a moving violation if you get caught.

What is allowed to travel on the Merritt Parkway?

The following are prohibited from entry upon and use of the highway right-of-way of those limited access state highways designated as parkways:

(a) commercial motor vehicles;

(b) trailers;

(c) all towed vehicles except as provided in
Section 14-298-240;

(d) buses;

(e) hearses when part of a procession or cortege;

(f) vehicles bearing other than passenger, camper, taxicab, vanpool or hearse registrations and those vehicles bearing combination registrations which have a gross weight in excess of seventy-five hundred pounds;

(g) vehicles whose dimensions, including any load, exceed one of the following:

length – twenty-four feet
width - seven feet, six inches
height – eight feet

Permits for entry upon and use of the parkways by vehicles normally excluded therefrom may be issued by the commission when, in its opinion, the interests of public necessity are served thereby. Such permits shall be in writing and shall specify the period of validity of such permit, the parkway or portion thereof and the identity of the vehicle concerned. A copy of the permit shall be carried in the vehicle.

Hah, didn't know about the weight restriction. He definitely could have gotten a ticket!

Before candle lighting time.