Park Using a Storage Rate

If you’re using your car only on weekends or once a week, there are three fantastic Storage Rates right now for $200 (including tax, $50 surcharge for SUVs/Oversized):

• 29th St & 6th Ave, $10 Exit Fee 7D
• 83rd St & 1st Ave, $7 Exit Fee Mon – Fri
• 48th St & 6th Ave, $7 Exit Fee Mon – Fri

Request one of these Storage Rates

Park in a Residential Area

Every summer, car owners all over Manhattan take up residence in the Hamptons or NJ beach areas, and they take their cars with them. That leaves a lot of empty spaces in garages that need to be filled. You may have to do some walking around and negotiating, but you can probably get a nice rate in one of these garages.

Park Farther East or West

Just like apartment rents, parking garage rates trend down as you go farther East towards 1st & York Aves or farther West towards 12th Ave.

Park Outside

Outdoor lots are generally less expensive than indoor garages. And since it’s summer, your car won’t need to be protected from the cold and snow.

Flaws with Muni-Meters

• Sometimes they just don’t work
• They can run out of ink or paper
• If you have a broken NYC Muni-Meter, you must find another meter (sometimes on another block)
• Muni-Meters will still take your money when NYC parking regulations aren’t in effect, ie. Sunday

Good things about Muni-Meters

• Research shows that you can fit more cars on the street when parking spaces are not marked, because drivers will park closer to vehicles already parked.

Quinn’s Proposal includes:

• Muni-Meters should refuse drivers’ payments when a machine is out of paper for receipts
• Muni-Meters should shut off during the hours when drivers are not required to pay for parking

Since Muni-Meters replaced the single-space meters a few years ago, NYC Council has improved parking regulations:

• You now have a five-minute grace period from alternate-side parking and Muni-Meter violations. Traffic enforcement agents with electronic ticketing devices have to cancel a parking ticket on the spot if a driver can produce a receipt showing that the grace period had not elapsed
• If you have remaining time on your Muni-Meter receipt, you can transfer that receipt to another NYC parking space that as the same or lower parking rates

More about these legislative proposals at  The New York Times.

Source: Streetfilms

Whilst NYC is encouraging bicycle riding, we’re seeing more bicycles chained to poles and trees. Many sidewalk bicycle stands are overcrowded, frequently making it difficult for pedestrians to walk on the curb. And with Citi Bike’s NYC bicycle sharing program set to unload 6,000 bikes starting May 27, 2013, we’re going to need places to put all these bicycles.

NYC DOT is testing out a new Bike Parking Corral. These corrals are located adjacent to a Protected Bike Lane, right where a car would usually be parked. The first Corral is being piloted on 9th Ave and a single car space has room for 16 bicycles.

We like this idea:

1. we’re not wasting any street space on cars that don’t park efficiently,
2. NYC bicycle riders are protected, and
3. this gets the bicycles off the sidewalk.

One of the biggest questions is, ‘Where is NYC going to put all those bicycles?’

Might not be an issue for NYC, which expects to generate $36 million in activity and 170 new jobs for the city, not to mention some serious advertising for Citibank, which paid $41 million for the contract, and payment partner MasterCard, who pledged $6.5 million.

Sign up by May 17, 2013 – you can have the privilege of being part of Citi Bike’s first week

Sign up after June 2, 2013 — you can take a Citi Bike for a spin anytime.

Some Key Facts

• 8,000 members have already signed up
• 6,000 bikes & 330 bike rack stations in Manhattan & Brooklyn to start
• 10,000 bikes at the height of the program

How It Works

1. Purchase access for a period of 24 hours, 7 days or annually (Annual membership is purchased online).

• Annual Membership: $95, 45 min rides*
• 7-Day Membership: $25, 30 min rides*
• 24-Hour Membership: $9.95, 30 min rides*

2. Go to any of the 600 bike-share stations to access one of the 10,000 bicycles in Manhattan, Brooklyn, & Queens
3. Use your Unlocking Code and touch-screen to remove the bike from the dock (Annual Members will have a key)
4. Take a look at the Citibike map system to know where you’ll be returning the bike, if it’s going to be a different station. You can also access the CitiBike app on your smartphone.
5. Ride 30 – 45 minutes, depending on your Access level
6. Return the bike to any of the 600 stations, pay any surcharges if you’ve used the bike longer than allowed

*You will incur overtime charges if you go over your 45 min or 30 min allotted time.

Members will have unlimited trips. Stations are tentatively planned for Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan below 59th St. Here’s the draft map.

Who is Paying for Citi Bike?

Privately sponsored by Citi and MasterCard, and privately operated by NYC Bike Share LLC, this program is running with no public funding. Citi’s contribution as the title sponsor is $41 million. MasterCard pledged $6.5 million to sponsor the payment systems, and will outfit the stations with advanced, contactless PayPass payment points. Citi’s brand appears on all 10,000 bikes, 600 stations, membership keys and the NYC Bike Share website. MasterCard’s logo will appear on the station kiosks, and on printed receipts. The program operates 365 days a year, 24/7 to anyone over 16 years or older.

NYC expects to generate $36 million in activity and 170 new jobs for the city

Questions?

Call Citi Bike, (800) 245-3311 or visit NYC DOT (Department of Transportation) site.

In mid-April 2013, NYC City Councilman David Greenfield (D-Brooklyn) introduced a bill that would require the NYC Muni-Meters to start accepting payment half an hour before meter requirements take effect.

On a positive note, many people will avoid the dreaded NYC parking ticket.

On the other hand, it could mean that people will park overnight — for free, and pre-pay the Muni-Meter to start at 9am.

1. Sign up for PayByPhone with your vehicle registration and credit card number
2. Find a space by using NYC DOT’s real-time map of available NYC parking spaces (map shown above). The map shows where there are available spaces and where there is low or limited availability.
3. After you park, type in the  number displayed on the side of the closest muni-meter to start paying for parking.
4. When your meter is about to expire, you’ll get a text or email. You will be able to add more money to extend your time, but only to the time allowed by the parking regulation.

Things we Like about NYC Pay By Phone Parking

1. You don’t have to walk to walk to the meter itself or deal with slips of paper.
2. You don’t have to have coins in your car.
3. You can add more time to the NYC parking meter from your phone, so you don’t have to go back to your car.

What We’re Not Sure About

1. The real-time map of NYC parking spaces doesn’t guarantee that a space will be available for you, but it does give you an indication of your chances of finding a space.
2. NYC may actually lose some street parking spaces because each space will need to be allocated and numbered — in order to pay for your parking. Research has shown that drivers will naturally fit more parked cars on a street when the parking spaces are not marked — that’s what happens with a multi-space Muni-Meter where you pay for parking and put the paper receipt on your dashboard.
3. You can end up getting NYC traffic ticket for ‘distracted driving’ because you’re using the NYC app to find parking.

The pilot program started in mid-April 2013 and is expected to run for 3 months.

Right now, Pango is being piloted in just one Imperial NYC parking garage. We hope the service expands to all of Imperial‘s NYC Parking garages.

We understand that Pango hopes to work with NYC Department of Transportationg (DOT) to allow this pay-by-phone service to be available for NYC street parking.

NYC Parking Permit for People with Disabilities (PPPD)

• Display: A rectangular placard which can be placed on the dashboard. You can have several license plates associated with the Permit.
• Allows parking at most NYC curbside street parking, including:

1. All NYC “No Parking*” zones on the street except No Parking zones for taxi stands,
2. All No Standing spaces authorized for doctors, press, diplomats and government agencies,
3. All metered NYC street parking spaces without paying, and
4. All ‘No Standing, Trucks Loading & Unloading’ zones except for specified restricted hours.

• DOES NOT ALLOW parking at:

1. Any “No Stopping” zones,
2. Any ‘No Standing’ zones other than listed above,
3. Any fire hydrants,
4. Bus Stops
5. Crosswalks
6. Any double parking.

• How to Get the Permit: You can apply for the permit here, and the permit must be moved to any vehicle which the owner is driving. The permit is referred to as Parking Permit for People with Disabilities (PPPD) and is available for people who must use a private vehicle for transportation.
• Eligibility:  Both NYC residents  and non-City residents are eligible for a New York City permit. You must require the use of a private vehicle for transportation and you must have a severe, permanent disability that impairs mobility as certified by your personal physician and a New York City physician designated by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH).
• More Information: Call DOT at 718-433-3100 or TTY 212-504-4115 during business hours.

*In NYC, No Parking means you can stop your vehicle temporarily to pick up or drop off people or personal property, and ‘temporarily’ is considered 2 minutes or less. An easy way to to remember ‘No Parking’ is think  of the ‘P’, which allows for People and Personal Property.

NYS Disabled Parking Permit

• Display: A blue NYC state permit hands on rear-view mirrors.
• How to use: Allows parking in designated off-street (garage parking) handicap parking spots only. In New York City, these spaces are all off-street, such as in parking lots for malls, office buildings or college campuses. The permit may be used only when the permit-holder is traveling in the vehicle. All NYC or local parking regulations must be obeyed. It is NOT valid for street parking.
• Eligibility: You must be a New York City resident and have a severe, permanent or temporary, qualifying mobility impairment as certified by a New York State-licensed physician or podiatrist. You do not have to be a driver or registered owner of a vehicle to get a permit.

How to get the permits: Apply online or call 311 (TTY 212-405-4115).

Thanks to SILive.com for alerting us to this information.

Hiroko Matsuike/The New York Times

As part of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s legacy, he wants to add 10,000 public parking spots for electric vehicles (EVs) over the next seven years, with 2,000 of these NYC parking spaces having electric vehicle charging stations.

Right now, NYC has 100 public electric vehicle charging stations (mostly in off-street NYC parking garages) plus another 120 charging stations for NYC’s fleet of 458 electric vehicles. Bloomberg’s proposal would add another 30 charging stations for NYC vehicles, bringing the total to 150 to be used by NYC-owned electric vehicles.

In his February 2013 address, Bloomberg said, “This year we’ll pilot curbside vehicle chargers that will allow drivers to fill up their battery in as little as 30 minutes. We’ll work with the City Council to amend the Building Code so that up to 20 percent of all new public parking spaces will be wired and ready for electric vehicles.”

This means that one-fifth of all new NYC garage parking spaces would offer charging stations for electric vehicles. Typically, approximately 10,000 new NYC parking spaces are created each year because new buildings are required to include new parking spaces, which is usually done by building a new NYC parking garage either under or next to the new building. Bloomberg’s proposal would allocate 2,000 of these NYC garage parking spaces to include the electric vehicle charging stations. To give you perspective, there are about 100,000 off-street parking spaces in NYC garages.

Do we need charging stations for electric vehicles? 

One theory says, ‘If you build it, they will come’. According to Transportation Nation, the NYS DMV records show (as of December 2012) only 2,069 electric vehicles registered in the five boroughs of New York City:

• 813 in the Bronx,
• 753 in New York (Manhattan),
• 413 in Kings (Brooklyn),
• 80 in Queens, and
• 10 in Richmond (Staten Island),

What about NYC Street Parking?

NYC Mayor Bloomberg’s proposal also includes testing NYC street parking, or curbside, charging. The City would start with two chargers that can fill batteries in as little as 30 minutes. Most EV chargers need eight hours. One charger would be in Seward Park, a middle class apartment development and park on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The second station will be just for electric taxis, located at the ConEdison Building.

Will you have to pay for Charging your Vehicle?

This is where it gets tricky. If you pay for a NYC parking garage space, can you get the charging for free? Of if you pay to charge your electric vehicle, can you get your parking space for free?

And what about the electric vehicles that pay for 4 hours of NYC street parking and need only 30 minutes of charging. They’ll be taking away a valuable resource from other EV owners, right?

Who will pay to Install the Electric Vehicle Charging Stations?

Since 2010, private companies have been installing public charging stations, usually with a government subsidy.

Stay tuned for more on this development.