Is Black Friday in NYC a Parking Holiday or a Regular Parking Day?

Last Updated on November 24, 2021 by Lawrence Berezin

Is Black Friday in NYC a parking holiday?

Black Friday in NYC is not a parking ticket holiday.

Most importantly, you are required to obey all parking signs, feed the meters, and dance the street cleaning polka. Fox 5 News published the following article in 2011:

“The day after Thanksgiving is not an official holiday.

All government offices, courts are open, and alternate side of the street parking is in effect.

However, many local city drivers come out to their cars in the morning to find parking tickets.

Sam Schwartz, better known as “Gridlock Sam,” says drivers sleep late and think the alternate side of the street parking is suspended the day after Thanksgiving.”

Gridlock Sam said this is why this day is the busiest day for traffic agents as well as the busiest for tow trucks. He knows about this all too well, as he is a former New York City Traffic Commissioner.

Mr. Schwartz said at least 50 percent more tickets are written on the day after Thanksgiving.

Even the NY Times weighed in trying to debunk the myth of parking for free on Black Friday.

A cavalcade of calls from the NYC driving community

We receive an amazing number of calls asking whether Black Friday is a parking ticket holiday. Much to our dismay, we receive an amazing number of calls on remorseful Saturday reminding us that many members of the NYC driving community still believe Black Friday is a parking holiday…and were issued parking tickets.

Even under normal circumstances, parking safely in NYC is fraught with challenges. There are myriad rules that impact whether or not you exit your parking space without an orange reminder of your time spent curbside. You may wish to check out this blog post that will help you avoid 7 common parking meter mistakes. 

Commentary

‘Tis the season to be jolly, but don’t forget…Black Friday is NOT a legal parking holiday in NYC. Please, park safely and remove the Evil Empire from your “gift list.”

There are still more legal and major legal parking holidays in 2013.