» NYC Street Parking

Margot Tohn in Parking Today Mag
April 30, 2012

A few months ago I wrote how I had received, then beat, a NYC parking ticket. Parking Today magazine was intrigued by my story and asked me to write an article with ways that cities and towns could help both residents and visitors not get parking violations. And if someone did get a ticket, how to ensure that the regulations and signage were so clear that the ticket couldn’t be dismissed.

Some of my recommendations included:

  1. Place the signs so people know which part of the street that sign refers to,
  2. Create regulations that make sense,
  3. Have clear and simple language on the signs,
  4. Make sure the signposts are sturdy and installed well enough so the wind can’t turn around the sign,
  5. traffic enforcement must submit a ticket that is correctly filled out, and
  6. fix all broken parking meters.

The response to my article has been great! Read the full article here.

Filed under: NYC Street Parking,Parking News,Parking Tickets — mtohn @ 11:30 am
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20 Ways to Save on NYC Parking
February 28, 2012

Why isn’t most NYC parking free? The street is public property, right?

If all street parking were free, then many people wouldn’t move their cars and people wouldn’t be able to find an empty spot. So charging for on-street parking is a way to manage the supply and demand, plus generate revenue for NYC to maintain the city. And since street parking is highly sought after, NYC can charge for it based on its value to drivers.

When it comes to NYC parking, you have three choices: the first two are a non-metered, free parking space on the street, or try to find a vacant metered space. If that fails, there are 1,100 NYC parking garages in Manhattan alone that will take your car, make sure it isn’t stolen or damaged, and charge you appropriately for it.

But we found at least 20 ways to save on both NYC street and NYC garage parking. If you think of any more ways, let us know!

NYC Street Parking

  1. Non-Metered Streets:  there are many streets in residential areas where there is free parking on the street. Usually in the E 60s and above, or the W 70s and above. Read more…
Filed under: NYC Street Parking,Parking & Driving Advice,Parking Tickets — Tags: , , , — mtohn @ 11:01 am
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NYC Has 2nd Most Expensive Parking
February 7, 2012

NYC Parking TicketNew Yorkers can stop complaining about the cost of NYC street parking, at least for a few minutes.  The news just came in that Vancouver street parking is actually the most expensive street parking in North America, at $5.75 per hour.

But NYC and Chicago are close behind at $5.00, and then San Francisco at $4.25.

And if you overstay your NYC parking meter? Then you, along with folks in San Francisco, will be paying the highest amount for your NYC parking ticket, at $65 each.

The survey, done by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, showed that:

Hourly Parking Meter Rates

1. Vancouver — $5.75 (lowest rate is 1.00)

2. New York City & Chicago — $5.00 ( NYC’s Greenwich Village is highest while lowest rate is $2.50 in downtown, Chicago’s lowest rate is $1.50) Read more…

Filed under: NYC Street Parking,Parking & Traffic Tickets,Parking News,Parking Tickets — Tags: , , , — mtohn @ 3:33 pm
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Can I Park Here app
February 5, 2012

Joshua Brustein from The New York Times just reviewed a new parking app called ‘Can I Park Here’. The app lets you take a photograph of a NYC street parking sign, and then the app will tell you if you can park there or not, and for how long. Once you decide to park, the app will start a timer and mark your location so you don’t overstay the meter or allotted time and get a NYC parking ticket. Totally cool and pretty simple, right?

Brustein tested about a dozen NYC parking spaces, though, and the app just didn’t work for him. The app reported that Brustein wasn’t actually close enough to the NYC parking sign, but even when he put his phone about one foot from the parking sign and took the photo, no luck. He eventually found out Read more…

Filed under: NYC Street Parking,Parking & Traffic Tickets,Parking Apps,Parking Tickets — Tags: , , — mtohn @ 8:57 am
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Muni-Meter Changes
February 1, 2012

NYC muni-meter for street parkingLast year, we told you that you could use a NYC Muni-Meter receipt at more than one NYC street parking spot. So if you purchased 3 hours and only used 2 hours, you could still use that receipt for the third hour if you needed to park somewhere else — that also had a NYC Muni-Meter.

Sadly, that convenience may be changing. The NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) is considering changing the rules so that you can use what’s left on the Muni-Meter receipt ONLY at a meter that charges the same rates. Read more…

Filed under: NYC Parking Card/Muni Meters,NYC Street Parking,Parking & Traffic Tickets,Parking Tickets — Tags: , , — mtohn @ 5:51 pm
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I Beat A Parking Ticket
January 25, 2012
Margot Tohn NYC parking sign

One of the NYC Street Parking Signs

Yes, it can be done! With the expert advice and help of New York Parking Ticket, I beat a NYC parking ticket for No Standing. Here’s what happened:

On October 16, 2011, I parked on Greenwich Street in lower Manhattan. I, along with a lawyer, read the parking signs for about 5 minutes before we decided that it was fine to park there on a Sunday afternoon. The immediate area had a series of NYC parking signs including:

  • No Standing 6AM – 10AM Except Sunday
  • No Standing Except Buses, Metered Parking 3 hr Limit 10AM – 3PM Except Sunday
  • Bus Layover Zone, No Standing Except Authorized Buses, 3PM – 7Pm Except Sunday
  • No Standing Except Trucks Loading & Unloading 6AM – 10AM Except Sunday
  • 3PM – 7Pm Except Sunday
  • Other Times No Standing Anytime

To make it even more confusing, some of the signs were in red and others were in white. In NYC, a street parking sign’s level of importance uses the colors Red, White, and then Blue, with Red being the most important to follow.

Margot Tohn NYC Parking Ticket Sign

This was near where I parked, and I showed the Street Signs as well

New York Parking Ticket advised me to Read more…

Filed under: NYC Street Parking,Parking & Traffic Tickets,Parking Tickets — Tags: , — mtohn @ 5:11 pm
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Is Your Street Closed?
January 22, 2012

How frustrating is it to be driving along in NYC and then find yourself taking a major detour because of a parade, street fair, or construction? Well, hassle be gone! NYC has just come out with a very cool map of Street Closures. You can search by date and time, and the map will show you any street closed because of Con Ed, events, large contractors, and the Department of Transportation. The image above tells us that E 45th St between 2nd & 1st Aves will be closed all day on January 22, 2012. The map is also great if you’re looking for NYC street parking.

PS. We heard about this cool map from Transportation Nation.

Filed under: NYC Street Parking — Tags: — mtohn @ 5:16 pm
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NYC Street Parking App

Tired of driving around NYC for street parking? It might get easier, with NYC testing out sensors that will tell you — on your smartphone — if a NYC street parking space is vacant or available. Right now, the test is happening at 177 street parking spaces at E 187th St & Belmont in the Bronx. The test is to see if these street sensors can withstand a NYC winter of snow and street cleaners. If that goes well, then NYC plans to implement a full test.

Do we like this idea?

PROS

  • You can find a vacant spot and beat other people to it.
  • Based on how the technology works, we all could find parking quicker, decrease congestion from all that driving around, and reduce pollution from car exhaust.

CONS

  • You could get a NYC parking ticket for using your phone to check the street parking. That could cost you up to $100 and even points on your license for a ‘Distracted Driving’ ticket.
  • Depending on how many other people are looking for NYC street parking, that vacant space could become occupied right after you see it’s vacant, so you’ll be driving around even more looking for parking.

Read the full article in the NY Daily News.

Filed under: NYC Street Parking,Parking News — Tags: , — mtohn @ 5:06 pm
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NYC Street Parking Permit
November 6, 2011

Permit Parking SignWouldn’t it be cool if you pretty much knew that you could find a spot to park your car on the street in your own neighborhood? Well, NYC street parking permits may be happening.

Called a NYC Residential Parking Permit, it would allow residents in specific neighborhoods to buy a permit allowing them to park in 80% of the street parking spots in the neighborhood. The other 20% would be available for visitors on non-permit holders.

According the New York Post, these NYC street parking permits would be most valuable and needed in Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, Harlem, Read more…

Filed under: NYC Street Parking,Parking News — Tags: , , , , , — mtohn @ 6:34 pm
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NYC Tkt Fixing Game is Up!
October 26, 2011

Is it urban legend or truth that it’s easy to get a parking or traffic ticket fixed? For the lucky ones in NYC’s Bronx, the answer seems to be ‘truth.’  After a long investigation, we should expect to see nearly 20 NYC police officers indicted for fixing NYC parking tickets and moving violation tickets.

Why did they do it? According to The Los Angeles Times, police officers were rewarded with free home repairs, tickets to Yankees games, and other perks.

Once the corruption became known, NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly put in new procedures to make it harder to fix these traffic tickets and also to identify when it was happening. There were 44% fewer tickets issued for moving violations during one week in September 2011 than in the same week in September 2010. One policy Kelly established was for NYPD officers to be punished for writing tickets that won’t stand up in court — with the threat of losing 10 vacation days. But the NY Daily News reports that the police are doing a sort of ‘work slow down’, and that’s partially why fewer tickets are being issued. We think something is working.

 

Filed under: NYC Street Parking,Parking Tickets — Tags: , , , — mtohn @ 8:56 am
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