I drove the newly purchased "Miss Scarlet" to New York in May,
entering and leaving mid to late evening, and really had no trouble
with traffic either way, although it's clear that New Jersey pretends
that there's nothing further east, judging from the lack of clear
signage.  One I got pointed at the Holland Tunnel, however, it was
amazingly speedy traversing Manhattan to cross the Brooklyn Bridge
(still available for purchase, by the way)  Eight minutes on the
island; 20 minutes getting off the other end of the bridge.  Tuesday
or Wednesday evening, IIRC

I escaped on a Sunday evening, leaving Brooklyn about 8:30 to 9:00
across the Goethals Bridge without major slowdown.

Driving during the day is another matter, entirely.  "What's that
noise, Grandpa?"  "Just preparing for a short jump through hyperspace
to get through this traffic, honey"  And that was back in May; best
of luck during July.  Grandkids loved the van, however.

As far as parking--there was a lovely scenic overlook near the
Delaware Water Gap crossing from Pennsylvania into New Jersey.  As
far as I could tell, there weren't any good parking places any closer
to the city than that.  Sorry.  Really.

Other Vanagons / Buses spotted driving Chicago-Brooklyn and
back..........multiplying by Avogadro's number, carry the one,
allowing for Spocks best estimate of the time dilation factor,
rounding off to the nearest whole number, approximately:  0

Does this mean there's no Vanagon content?

P.S.  I had no particular delay entering the Holland Tunnel, no
lines, no delays; cell phone even worked throughout the tunnel.