J.H.
I stayed in NYC a few times, I live in NH now but when I went to NYC I lived in MA. I never drove in to the city, we parked in Stamford, CT and took the train in. The parking garage at the station is very reasonably priced and didn't have to worry about navigating the city. We stayed at the Marriott in Times Square once and it was amazingly inexpensive. We hadn't planned to stay overnight so we had no hotel reservations. Just walked in around 7pm and asked if they had any available rooms. There are so many places to stay around Times Square that you should be able to find something reasonable. You could try calling some of the hotels and asking if they have any deals, if you have Triple A you can get some good discounts. Good luck and hope you have an awesome time.