Country Bumpkin meets NYC

[mforrington]

Hi all,
I'm leaving in a few days to bike from southern Maine to Long Island. I'm meeting up with my dad once I get there, but the maps I have for cycling only get me as far as Summit, NJ. From there, I need to get to Uniondale, in Long Island. I am about as unfamiliar with the area as is humanly possible, and am basically clueless in regards to bus, subway, and train systems. To add to it all, I'll have a fully loaded tour bike that I'll be carrying around
So, I've determined I can take the NJ transit system as far as Penn Station, or the World Trade Center PATH Station, but these still drop me a ways from the Brooklyn Bridge, which is what I was planning to take to get into Brooklyn.
Does anyone have any suggestions for how to get from either station to the bridge, or from the bridge to Uniondale? Or does any of this sound like an extremely bad idea to anyone who knows the area? Any help would be REALLY appreciated. Thank you!

[litespeed]

Why go all the way to New Jersey and double back through NYC to Long Island? There are ferries from Bridgeport and New London, Connecticut across Long Island Sound. You could then bicycle along the north shore and down to Uniondale. I have never gone this way but I rarely pass up a chance to ride a ferry while bicycle touring.

If you insist on going to NJ and back to NYC, don't worry about bicycling in Manhattan. It's a snap. New Yorkers are the best drivers in the world. When you exit the train station just pull out your compass and head east. The Brooklyn Bridge is a blast on a bicycle.