But New York isn’t every other major city.

NeW yOrK iS dIfFeReNt.

Why? What makes NYC so special that makes us different from every single other major city on the planet? This kind of attitude is exactly the reason why everything is so damn slow and expensive in this city. Why do people insist on continued mediocrity over progress and improvement?

You can’t reduce the number of cars if everyone has a permit.

Just rob the Amazon delivery truck.

We have zoned spots for delivery. They're called hydrants

Lol, what? I disagreed with a residential parking permit idea and suddenly I insist on mediocrity over progress? Slow down there. "Everything is so damn slow and expensive in this city" and yet along with London we're the economic engines of the world. It's precisely the "every other city does this" attitude that has stifled innovation in American cities the past quarter century. Once we do what every other city does we become every other city.

You can, actually. If street parking is only available to residents, then people who drive in from the suburbs, which is the majority of cars in the city, are forced to use expensive garages, and therefore might stop driving altogether. And if the number of permits issued is equal to the number of spots available, then you're also eliminating people circling for parking.

Printer go brrrr....

How are the number of cars going to decrease in the city and the suburbs with the permits?

Congestions pricing would decrease the number of cars driving into the city.

lol it sounds like you need to move back to where you came from. pay for a monthly spot if the parking situation doesn’t suit you

How presumptuous. What makes you think OP was the one stuck behind the AZN truck?

Might as well just become completely lawless so everyone can be free to be innovation and do whatever they want then.

Parking is the biggest factor in determining whether people will drive. Take away street parking from commuters and they'll switch to other modes. Congestion pricing is great, but we should be doing both.

The city is so expensive so let’s start charging residents instead of having free street parking? What your suggesting is just another tax on the working class

Three things here:

1. Working class people overwhelmingly don't own cars in this city. The median income for car owners is 2-3 times higher than non-car owners depending on which borough. They are entirely optional for the over 90% of New Yorkers who live within a 5 minute walk of a bus or train stop.

2. If you can't afford a $50 parking permit, you probably can't afford the $12-15k per year it costs to own a car.

3. You are not entitled to use public space to store your private property for free. The city subsidizes parking to the tune of $40 billion (yes, with a B) every year. You'd be insane to think that's good policy when cars are actively detrimental to the city.

>Parking is the biggest factor in determining whether people will drive.

Maybe. But you are not talking about eliminating parking. Just assigning them to certain group of people.

It's Friday night. How many open parking spots you see out your window? How many open parking spots would there be if there were parking permits?

Look, I'd love to eliminate street parking entirely, but that's not happening any time soon.

Roughly 30% of traffic in the city right now is people circling for parking. Create a permitting system and you eliminate that pretty much overnight. A lot of people also drive in with the expectation that they'll be able to find a spot on the street, which, depending on the location and time, is very possible. Even if they can't half the time and have to go to a garage, they may consider that worthwhile. (For what it's worth, I live off 2nd Ave in Midtown and there are almost always spots on both 2nd and 1st available). If you make it so commuters know they'll have to pay for the garage every time, they may pick the train instead.

Permitting is fine by me but only if you have to re apply for a permit and the number of permits gets reduced over time regularly. Problem is if you have resident permits, how do you get rid of them after it was such a hard task of getting them.

It's like free street parking. After decades of it how do you tell people they have to pay for it now.

I’ve always thought NYC is different because we butter our Kaiser rolls, a delicacy that is rarely found in the wider world .

As sarcastic as this is, it's sadly true. I did deliveries with my own car for a few months and only like 10% of the time did I find an actual spot (usually only if I was sent to eastern Queens). The rest of the time I had to use hydrants, double park, or block someone's driveway.

30%? Yea. Gonna need a source on that one, friend.

Not sure where you got your statistics from but you need to reconsider people who live in Manhattan vs the rest of the boroughs. People who own cars in Manhattan are often pretty wealthy, because it's much more expensive there to own one, as you will need to use parking garages. But in the other boroughs? That is not quite the case. The majority of people I know with cars (all outside Manhattan) are not earning that much. And many who do own cars here go for cheap, used, but reliable cars that don't cost anywhere near 12-15k per year, not even close. In some parts of these outer boroughs, public transit is either nonexistent, slow, or unreliable. Even with traffic, driving is often faster.

People are not entitled to store private property on public space, but when transportation systems are setup a certain way, we expect certain things. If you want to reduce car usage, you need to provide better alternatives. Other major cities are doing so much better with their subways. But NYC continues to ignore subway expansion in the outer boroughs. And subways in my opinion are the most efficient method of travel in a city and should be the #1 priority in transportation. More than buses and biking.

Welcome to nyc

There aren't enough street spots for many residential areas even with permits. We don't have any really large self-park garages in the city for people to just pull in, pay, and not be circling around looking for a spot. And developers won't construct them as it's not profitable.

Could maybe ban street parking for out-of-state plates (permit them to park at garages + private property) or allow them to park at certain hours? Maybe take away the licenses + cars from drivers who have caused multiple accidents or have been caught driving recklessly a few times? Or have a more difficult requalifying exam for drivers who have had x years of experience and/or at certain age? Maybe have congestion pricing and have different rates for out-of-state plates vs. plates registered to a NYC address?

Could also do other things such as change the timing of shift changes. Example: nurses at all the hospitals (to my knowledge) do 12-hour shifts starting/ending at 7:00am/pm. Could have the hours at nearby hospitals staggered so one hospital does 8am/pm shift changes and the other one does 9am/pm?

Could also do a dedicated SI-lower BKLYN-QNS underground roadway that trucks get a dedicated lane or two where once you're in it, there's no way to get to Manhattan? It'll alleviate a lot of the traffic on the BQE.

There are many ways to address traffic, but it's going to require great ideas, the willingness to implement them, the money to do so, enforcement, etc. No one's going to be happy with all of it (see the Brooklyn Promenade right now), but it'll have to be done sooner or later.

There is no way that 30% of the traffic in the city is people "circling for parking".

No, I'm not going to approve of residential permits. No, I don't care what other towns do across America. I'm open to NYC parking permits to limit outsiders from driving and taking up parking, but no neighborhood restrictions.

You bought or rented out your apartment knowing full well you wouldn't have parking. Now you want free perks lol. Sell your car.

Define "permanently". I live in Hollis Estates. I often drive to either Forest Hills or ozone Park and take the E/F or A. Are you suggesting that I can't park in those areas because I don't live there? WE're not near any trains out here.

How will the shopkeepers along Union Turnpike manage if they can't park near their shops? How will the schoolteachers get to work at 7:30a? What about the St John's staff and commuters? How will this work?

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The source is Donald Shoup’s The High Cost of Free Parking. It is based on sixteen studies of multiple cities. However, Shoup is careful to note that the “30%” number describes “congested downtown traffic,” not “all traffic.”

In 2006, it was found that on Prince St., on certain afternoons, 28% of motorists were looking for parking. On Saturday, it was 41%. In 2007, it was found that in Park Slope, 45% of traffic was cruising for parking. (These reports are currently unavailable online, but you can email info@transalt.org for copies of them.)

London has permitted parking.

I mean, he could just as easily say that refusing to pay for a permit means you want “free perks.” I don’t have a car, so “free perks” are not a motivator for me. But traffic reduces quality of life for everyone, including non-drivers. I am totally fine seeing car owners pay more for the privilege of owning a car, though I wish the money generated would go to the schools, instead.

Like I said, a NYC tax to make parking exclusively to NYC residents I'm ok with.

I'm not doing neighborhood permits. You chose to like in Manhattan. If you want parking move to brooklyn.

Yea transalt, an organization that would in no way fudge the numbers to make cars look bad LOL.

https://blog.tstc.org/2017/04/21/car-free-new-york-city/

And I think you, like most people, are vastly underestimating the cost of car ownership. Insurance alone for a 10-15 year old Toyota is going to cost around $500-600 a month for insurance alone. Then there's gas, maintenance, depreciation, inspections, etc.

Nearly everyone in the parts of the outer boroughs without the subway could get by just fine with bikes and buses. In fact, many people do. The problem with transportation in the order boroughs comes specifically from cars. If people didn't drive so much, then the buses would be far more reliable and efficient and biking would be a lot safer. There's nothing wrong with those modes of transportation, and many neighborhoods, in Eastern Queens especially, aren't dense enough to justify subway expansion over other areas. Those people should be taking a bus or bike to the subway or LIRR, not driving into Manhattan.

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Thanks for the sources.

Simple solution, build a wall with Jersey and make them pay for it! /s

Yeah, you don’t generally need to fudge numbers to make cars look bad. It’s fairly obvious that they’re horrible in many, many ways.

Yes, they are a necessary evil for some people. But they are absolutely not necessary for a lot of New Yorkers. This includes many of my friends and peers. My friends drive their kid to swimming lessons. We make the 20-minute walk/scoot instead. Other friends use their car to drive to their upstate house on weekends. We…don’t have a second fucking house.

I’ve lived here all my life and most families I know owned cars. A lot of us have family on LI or NJ, use our cars for work outside of Manhattan and generally like to take trips outside of the city. See how my anecdotal experience cancels out yours? As hard as you might try you won’t be able to control other peoples lives.

PS wealth envy is not a good look.

Like I said, some people need cars. Many New Yorkers do not. This is simply a fact.

Years ago, we did need a car, due to the travel required by my residency (I was expected to be at multiple area hospitals, depending on the day). When I finished my residency, we no longer needed a car, so we got rid of it.

I am not envious of my friends’ second home. I believe no one needs a second home; it’s unnecessary excess in a world of finite resources. This includes my friends, who I overall like and respect greatly. They are extremely decent people, but I disagree with them on this aspect. That’s okay.