I know many people shudder at the thought of driving into the city, but if time means anything, simp

Which rental company are you using? And where at the Shore will you be? I live at the Shore and the major car rental companies have rental los angeles dodgers facilities near me. The NJ Transit Coast Line runs along the Shore to Bay Head.
Rental car companies MUCH prefer to have lots of cars at airports instead of city centers. Thus, they will often give a real bargain if you pick up a car in a city and return it to an airport. For instance, the rental company might waive the drop off charges -- in effect, they're paying YOU to drive their car back to an airport. I've done this a couple of times and the reduction in cost has sometimes been dramatic.
Also consider dropping off all luggage and everybody but the driver at a rail station, allow them to ride the train into Manhattan, return the car to the airport, and then have the driver easily ride (even a city bus) to re-unite with everyone else at the Manhattan hotel.
If you are staying in Times Square, then drop your car at Newark airport. los angeles dodgers That's by far the easiest solution. From there you have very good train and bus connections into Manhattan. And you will avoid the expensive tolls into Manhattan as well.
If you drop it at Newark you can take the car rental shuttle back to the airport and there pick the large airporter bus (NOT supershuttle) which you can get to Port Authority bus Terminal - only a couple los angeles dodgers of blocks to Times Square (IMHO easier than taking Air Train, then NJ TRansit train to Penn Station NYC, then the subway - hauling your luggage all the way to get to Times Square.)
I know many people shudder at the thought of driving into the city, but if time means anything, simply dropping the car off in midtown will likely be less complicated and quicker than most of these suggestions of various kinds of logistics. Personally, I think some of the navigating around Newark Airport, then the various connections is both more complicated and more time consuming than simply dropping the car off in the city, particularly if it's near your hotel.
Agree that the fastest is just to drop it at an office near your hotel - or drop the passengers and luggage at the hotel and then drop the car at a rental office. Obviously exactly how close to the hotel depends on the agency - but the majors have offices all over the city.
The Lincoln los angeles dodgers Tunnel into Manhattan during rush hour is no picnic. I'd take the train and save at least 30 minutes, even though you come into Penn Station. But coming closer to the Port Authority is tempting. Just prepare for a slow trip.
I'd be the first to agree with Doug's assessment of the Lincoln Tunnel IF you are arriving into the city at rush hours weekdays, but if you are arriving Saturday or Sunday or between the hours of say 10 AM and 3 PM weekdays, I really don't see you saving 30 minutes but probably adding at least that much by doing the "double transportation" thing.