I take the train which is 78-80 minutes, but all told it takes 2 hours door to door.
There is a train service running from the shore area? From the Atlantic City area? I know there's one out of Trenton.
"The Shore" goes a lot farther north than that. The New Jersey Coast Line runs regular trains from NYC to Long Branch, and has a few trains that go as far as Bay Head (though you need to transfer to get to NYC).
The shore technically encompasses Monmouth County down to Cape May county. There is the North Jersey Coast Line that runs from Bay Head to NYC, but not always direct which requires a change over in Long Branch. This is due to the Long Branch to Bay Head portion not having the newer lines run for the trains.
I know a few people that even take a ferry every morning into NYC as their commute.