Friday, September 16, 2011

Parking In New York City

By John Riley


If considering visiting New York with an auto, keep in mind that parking in New York might be a heavy challenge. If you do not plan ahead and adhere to some easy rules you might be fined, your car could be towed or you may pay an arm and a leg in parking charges.

Here is a basic overview on NYC parking:

Garages

Hourly charges in NYC garages can create serious dents in your wallet and in midtown can run well over $40 an hour.

Keep in mind that you can find coupons for nyc parking on the web and some websites even offer iphone apps that will help you in finding deals on an ad-hoc basis.

There are typically early bird deals for folks that bring their vehicles in the parking garage before 10:00 am.

Sometimes it is a good idea parking in a garage a little bit further from where you want to get and take the subway, bus or walk to your destination. For example, parking garages near Ninth and Tenth Avenue typically charge much lower costs than mid town garages and you can find fabulous deals for the whole day.

If you are moving into NYC permanently and have a car, consider signing up for a monthly parking plan.

Monthly deals can run about 300 - 400 dollars a month with quite a few garages charging additional fees for SUV's, but it is feasible to find less expensive deals.

Street parking

Here is the understatement of the month - Street parking in NYC is tough!!

There are areas in the city that it's incredibly difficult to find a vacant space at any point of the day. Regardless of whether you find one - parking meters are pricey and at most places you'll need to come back every hour or two to add more coins or pay more at the parking muni meters

On Sundays meter parking is free of charge.

In any case always!!! Carefully read the signs close to where you wish to park. Go a few feet to your left and to your right and make sure you understand the sign that is applicable to your space. Understanding what the various signs mean is difficult particularly to people coming to NYC for the 1st time. If you are unsure ask. The best people to ask are policemen or store owners right near where you are parking.

Check out the NYC DOT parking laws website for more info.

It's also important to follow the guidelines about Alternate Side Parking

During certain days and hours you are not allowed to park on certain sides of the streets for cleaning and traffic flow purposes. There are ad hoc radio headlines on the suspension of these rules, generally as a result of rough weather such as snow, but there are also pre scheduled suspension of the Alternate Side Parking for holidays. You can check out the 2011 suspension calendar at the NYC DOT website.




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