There are many car rental companies located in New York, a good idea would be to arrange this with a  travel agent before your trip or check out the websites for the best deals and book online.
In order to rent a car in New York, you need to be at least 25 years old with a valid driver’s license and a credit card. Good advice is to rent a car in the city rather than at the airports, which can be expensive. A person under the age of 25 can still rent a car, although the cost will be very expensive because of the surcharges.
The average cost of car rental is around $100 per day and the most cost effective would be to rent for a week rather than a weekend, to save money in the long run.
Prepay for a tank of fuel – this will cost you about $20, but this would double if you were to refill before dropping the car off as gasoline prices in the city are very high.
As well as the rental fee, there are a few extra costs involved including 13.25% tax, Liability damage waiver, which covers the value of the car in case of an accident and also $15 per day personal insurance, which you won’t need if you have adequate medical insurance. Having adequate personal insurance is a must for your trip, the risk of vandalism and theft of your rented car are high.
If you aren’t a confident driver, stay clear of car rental as the roads in New York are always packed with traffic and this can be a bit daunting for some people. Use the public transport instead!
Remember that driving is on the right hand side, most of the streets are one way and the speed limit is 30 mph, which will be hard to exceed because of the sheer volume of traffic. The wearing of seat belts is required by law at all times.

The car rental companies are listed in the New York telephone directory under the heading “Automobile Renting”

Car Rental Companies

Thrifty:
Tel: (800)-367-2277
www.thrifty.com
Dollar:
Tel: (800)-800-4000
www.dollar.com
Hertz:
Tel: (800)-654-3131
www.hertz.com
Avis:
Tel: (800)-331-1212
National:
Tel: (800)-227-7368