Finding parking in New York City is hard, to say the least. There are up to 2.2 million vehicles registered in the city. Additionally, about 900,000 additional entering the city on a daily basis. Even for those who don’t own a car in the city, it is stressful to think about how to find the best parking in NYC.
Best Parking NYC
Why is it difficult to find parking in NYC
There are many reasons why finding parking is so difficult these days. Even though there are currently about 3 million total free parking spaces available in the city. Many of these spaces aren’t openly available for parking most of the time as they are taken up by local residents’ registered vehicles. Though companies are starting to issue back to office mandate, many New Yorkers are still working remotely or from home. If they happen to own a car, they’re not moving it. Even if local residents had to move their cars, being in close proximity and having knowledge of local streets makes it easy for them to do so. This is knowledge and access that tourists or commuters won’t have. Making it even harder to snag a free parking spot in the heart of the city even on alternative side parking and street cleaning days.
Free parking spaces may also be difficult to locate due to a conversion of the space towards dining sheds, CitiBike docking stations, etc. During the height of the pandemic, thousands of street parking spaces were taken by restaurants having to do outdoor dining. Although most of these outdoor dining sheds have been removed, there are still about 2400 approved outdoor dining spaces approved. Additionally, more and more Citibike docking stations are being added to the city on a annual basis. While both dining sheds and Citibike docking stations can be a position in the communities they serve, it does take away from overall available parking spaces. This impacts locals, commuters, and tourists alike.
Now, if you don’t happen to score a street parking spot, there are other options. Parking garages are popular but have a very expensive rate. Some people even rent out designated parking spaces month-to-month to have a guaranteed parking spot. However, if you’re looking for a cheaper option, there are many NYC parking app or websites that can help you find parking spots at a discounted rate.
Apps for Finding Parking in NYC
SpotHero
What it is: This handy app is a parking reservation service that lets you find and reserve parking spots. You can reserve hourly, monthly, airport, and even event parking. SpotHero partners with parking garages that can offer you discounts.
All you have to do is book through the app, get a prepaid parking pass/reservation instantly through email, and when you arrive at your spot, you’ll either have to scan a QR code, show the attendant your reservation, or add your license plate number.
Where: This service is available in all five boroughs, but if you’re looking at the map, a large handful of the available parking garages are located in Manhattan.
Pricing: According to their site, an average month’s price in NYC is about $570, which breaks it down to around $19 a day. A month’s worth of parking in Brooklyn averages out to be $188, about $6 a day. You can see which borough is significantly cheaper. Each parking facility will also vary in price depending on the location. One thing to look out for is if you have an oversized vehicle. SpotHero determines oversized as SUVs (Ford Explorers, Jeeps), minivans (Honda Odyssey), cargo vans, passenger vans, moving trucks, and large trucks. Almost all NYC parking garages will charge a fee for oversized vehicles. Some parking garages will allow you to pay the fee through SpotHero, and some will have you pay when you arrive.
Neighbor
What it is: Neighbor is a handy website that allows you to find storage for whatever items you have, and that includes a parking space for your car. Unlike booking a parking garage space, you’re booking parking spots that are being rented out by your neighbors. How does that work? If there is an apartment, house, or building, where the owners don’t use the parking spot, you can use it instead. Neighbor shows photos of the parking space, which will show if it’s uncovered and the size of the parking space. Additionally, Neighbor will let you know if there’s security at the parking area, when you can access your vehicle, and other features. Both short-term and long-term options are available.
A worrisome factor for this service is the possibility of being scammed. However, Neighbor offers Protection Plans, has legal identity verification, and offers secure automatic payments.
Where: Neighbor has parking spots available all over NYC.
Pricing: By looking through their options, this parking service has spots as low as $100 a month to over $600 a month. Some places will offer 50 percent off the first month, but it’s good to look out for hidden service fees.
ParkMe
What it is: This website allows you to find open spaces on the street or in garages. Powered by Inrix, which provides location-based data and analytics like traffic conditions and parking, ParkMe is able to find the closest and cheapest parking space for you. By clicking on the different options on how you want to find parking, the website will show you daily and monthly rates, as well as the probability you can find parking in certain areas. ParkMe also has handy features such as a “Mark Your Car” tool so you can find easily mark where you left your car.
Where: All five boroughs.
Pricing: If you’re looking to reserve a parking spot, ParkMe offers discounted spaces starting at five dollars per hour. Otherwise, monthly rates can range anywhere from $130 a month to over $300.
BestParking
What it is: Searching for the cheapest places to park is what BestParking is ‘best’ at. According to their site, you can save up to 50% when you use their website to find parking spaces. This NYC parking app is available for IOS and Android. You’re able to check the details, capacity, and clearance limitations for a garage. The site allows you to choose between the closest or cheapest parking spaces and shows you what is and isn’t available near you.
Where: All of NYC.
Pricing: BestParking’s pricing is entirely dependent on the parking space available. You will get a parking pass when you book that allows you to park in the designated area. Daily parking rates start at five dollars. BestParking does tell you to watch for fees when arriving at a parking garage. Some places will charge you an extra fee to park or exit, and if your vehicle is oversized, they will charge a fee on top of everything else.
ParkWhiz
What it is: This parking app has over 250 parking locations in NYC alone. Simply make a reservation on their free mobile app, receive the an eletronical parking pass to present at your selected location, and you’re all set.
Where: All of NYC.
Pricing: ParkWhiz bookings can be up to 50% cheaper than the standard rate. In a review of the site, we saw available parking for as low as $25 in Times Square or $20 right by Madison Square Garden. We also found monthly parking for as low as $299/month.
Honorable mention for a NYC parking app
Park NYC
What it is: This parking app won’t help you find or reserve a parking space. However, it is currently one of the easiest ways to make payments on metered parking throughout the city. This app was launched by the Department of Transportation in 2016 and is one of the smoothest metered parking payment systems the author has used. Simply locate your parking space’s zone number, plug that into your app, pay, and you’re good to go. You can find the zone number at the end of each block or on the Muni-Meter located near your space. User’s can get mobile alerts when their parking is about to expire. They can then extend the parking duration completely remotely.
Where: All of NYC.
Pricing: Park NYC does charge a small convenience fee for using their app to make metered payments. You can choose pay via your account’s eWallet or to pay per transaction. For the first option, you are required to fill your account’s eWallet with a minimum of $25 and will be charged a $0.05 cents convenience fee for doing so. Alternatively, you can pay per transaction and pay a $0.20 convenience fee per transaction (including extensions). For NYC’s metered rates, check out the following NYC Department of Transportation Parking Meters guide.
Editor’s Note: We updated this article to enhance readability. We also removed Pango as an option as they are no longer as relevant in NYC.
