The Greatest NYC Parking Perils And Awesome Solutions

NYC parking perils are here to stay

NYC parking perils are hiding in plain sight in every neighborhood. That is to say; these perils jeopardize our peace of mind and our pocketbooks. For example, our friend Joe leaves his house every Tuesday and Friday at dawn to move his car for the grim street sweeper to sweep, find another space to wait for the end of street cleaning, and go to work. Yikes!

Meanwhile, when the former Mayor reduced street cleaning to one day per week, Joe felt some relief. But now the second day is back and taking its toll on Joe—the perils of owning a car in NYC. The number of vehicles is rising, and available street parking is dwindling.

Likewise, street dining sheds are devouring parking spaces. The number of outdoor sheds is growing and are eyesores.

How about congestion pricing? The MTA is supposed to be saved by the added revenue. But what about parking? Not so much.

What’s a driver to do?

The street cleaning for two days or more per week parking peril

Indeed, but not surprisingly, there is a diversity of opinion among New Yorkers about the parking perils of too many street cleaning days.

Wilford Chan wrote a terrific article, “Two hours of sitting in your car going nowhere: New York’s unique parking rules are back,” that explores the subject. For example:

Jessica Tisch, the new sanitation commissioner, ordered a return to more frequent cleanings earlier this year, explaining that De Blasio’s rollback had left the streets clogged with litter.

“I know it’s a pain to move the car, but let’s be real, we need people to do it to allow our brooms to give the city the good scrubbing it needs,” said Tisch.

A 54-year-old driver who parks in Brooklyn’s affluent Park Slope district told the Guardian that street litter had gotten worse as some of her neighbors don’t move their cars at all, preferring to risk the occasional ticket.

“It used to be that there was an understanding that everybody would get in their car and move to the other side, but now nobody bothers to do that.” Going back to two days a week could help, she said, if tickets are enforced.

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A 51-year-old car owner called the city’s move to two days a week “silly.” Segarra is a longtime resident of Brooklyn Heights, a wealthy area where street cleaning rules have been once-a-week for decades and will remain so, unlike the rest of New York.

Segarra said the tidy streets in Brooklyn Heights showed one weekly clean was enough. “When people are around the neighborhood, they take care of the neighborhood,” he said.

A transportation planner in Queens called street parking a wasteful giveaway, citing estimates that the typical car stays parked 95% of the time.

Ho, who has a car but rents a private parking space, considers free street parking “an infringement on public space.” For the last few years, Ho has been selling merchandise with anti-parking slogans like “Street Parking is Theft” and “Parks not Parking.” It’s a “niche idea” that gets a lot of approval among fellow transit enthusiasts.

Are there any solutions?

Here are some old friends:

NYC parking perils chart-street cleaning solutions and the risks.

Resources

NYC alternate side parking on Twitter

2023 NYC ASP Rules Suspension Calendar

What is your CB’s cleanliness scorecard?

Community Boards can apply for a reduction of street cleaning days if 90% of their neighborhoods are “clean” for two straight years.

Crown Heights almost qualified for the reduction but missed out because of a lower score in the second year.

Does your CB qualify?

I wish it were this easy in NYC.

FREE lesson on how to observe alternate side parking rules

Great ways to find affordable parking to eliminate parking perils

Spot Hero

Parkaroo

If you have ever struggled to find free on-street parking, Parkaroo is the app for you. We connect you to a network of people in your city who give and get parking spots using our FREE IOS app.

Is outdoor dining saving the restaurant industry in NYC?

Here’s what outdoor dining is supposed to look like

Is outdoor dining good for NYC? Or just another parking peril to eliminate on street parking

Or is it an eyesore that gobbles up parking spaces?

NYC outdoor dining map

A map to find outdoor dining. — NYC Open Restaurant Locations

A group intent on eliminating the parking perils of outdoor dining

“Shut down NYC’s outdoor-dining sheds: They boost eatery income but plague the streets” By Steve Cuozzo

Agree or disagree?

Congestion pricing

The FHA was called for “delay of game.”

What’s a quarter of a billion dollars among friends?
The MTA quietly pushed back its implementation of congestion pricing by another few months, a move that the agency said would cost it quarter of a billion dollars in expected revenue in 2024.
The agency wrote in its February Financial Plan this month that the delay from the expected first quarter of next year until the second quarter “will reduce anticipated [congestion pricing] revenue … from $1 billion to $750 million in 2024. The operating budget is not impacted by this adjustment.”
Streetsblog

Commentary

NYC parking perils come in all shapes and sizes. Likewise, each peril has its fanatical fanbase and loyal opposition. For example, Do we need two or more days per week of street cleaning? The answer is yes if we ask the DOT and its commissioner. However, the loyal opposition consists of many drivers who are ordered to move their cars twice or more days per week to allow the grim sweeper to tidy up their streets.

What about outdoor dining? Do we really need these ugly shacks taking up parking spaces throughout NYC?

FREE Download

Is double parking worth the risk? In the same vein, how about the risk of double parking on street cleaning days?

Firstly, this is a tough decision. Meanwhile, the evil ticket costs $115, but the choice is driving around looking for a temporary parking space for your chariot and then moving it again.

What’s a driver to do?

Here’s a FREE guide that talks about the risks and the circumstances when you can legitimately double park. Simply click the pretty button below.

I’m the pretty button below

3 Comments

SI guy • February 28, 2023 at 11:43 am

Alternate Side Parking (ASP) has always been more about revenue than anything else. All of Staten Island and large sections of the outer boroughs have no ASP and have some of the highest street cleanliness ratings in the city. (SI-CB-2 100% cleanliness for 01/2023.)

The following databases are usually updated regularly by the NYCDOT-

ASP signs: https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Transportation/ASP-Signs/2×64-6f34

NLZ signs: https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Transportation/Neigborhood_Loading_Zone_signs/6pjf-tf5u

Carshare signs: https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Transportation/Carshare_Signs_Update/5rjy-nyg8

Lawrence Berezin • February 28, 2023 at 1:06 pm

Hi Sl guy,

Thanks so much for your fascinating comment and interesting information.
Would you recommend reducing street cleaning days in the outer boroughs?

Regards,
Larry

Tee Kay • March 19, 2023 at 1:23 am

During the pandemic, when there was no street sweeping for a few months the streets were noticeably dirtier.
I know there are those that bemoan ASP because they have to move their car but I could give a number of reasons how its helpful. 1) I have an elderly neighbor who does her errands every Monday and Thursday mornings, the days of ASP on my block. The times are from 8:30 – 10. She is back by 930 and waits in her car. 2) Around the corner from where I live there is an auto mechanic. He is always hogging parking spaces. Sunday night and Wednesday night the locals can get those spots. 3) If I ever have to make a doctor’s appointment and I need to get there by car I try to make the appointment close to when the ASP ends on that block. I usually get a parking space.