Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In


The B67 bus veers around a double-parked van blocking a car parked in front of a fire hydrant as a Bugaboo-pushing nanny strolls by Councilmember David Yassky and Transportation Alternatives director Paul Steely White calling for more sensible parking policy this afternoon in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Every drivers knows that it can be nearly impossible to find a legal parking space in the neighborhoods in and around Downtown Brooklyn but, until today, no one had ever tried to quantify the problem. No Vacancy (PDF download), a new study by Transportation Alternatives, finds that nearly half of all of the vehicles clogging the vital shopping avenues of Park Slope are occupied by drivers who are simply looking for a parking space. T.A.'s study, which riffs off the work of UCLA professor Donald Shoup, author of the acclaimed (and remarkably entertaining) High Cost of Free Parking, found that:

    • 94% of the area's metered parking spaces are occupied with nearly 100% of spaces occupied at peak periods.
    • Nearly one in every six vehicles parked along 7th Avenue is illegally parked, with the rate of illegal parking rising exponentially as the curb fills.
    • Nearly two-thirds of local traffic consists of vehicles circling the block looking for parking spaces!

White says "When one in two cars is simply circling the block in search of parking, the curb is being mismanaged. This study shows that Brooklynites are suffereing from needless traffic and dangerous illegal parking that could be easily eliminated through inexpensive improvements like market-priced Muni-Meters and residential parking permits."

Yassky has been pushing the City to explore the possibility of a residential parking permit program for the neighborhoods around Downtown Brooklyn for three years now. Many believe that residential parking permits and better management of
curbside parking space could help reduce unnecessary automobile trips
into transit-rich Downtown Brooklyn. Jointly conducted by the Downtown Brooklyn Council, DOT and EDC, the residential permit study (PDF download) ultimately recommended not going forward with a residential parking permit program. The $75,000 study was one of the only concessions that the Bloomberg Adminsitration made to neighborhood groups during the extensive rezoning of Downtown Brooklyn.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Talking Headways Podcast: Talking with Ryan Russo (Yes, THAT Ryan Russo) About Bike Networks

The head of NACTO (and maybe the head of NYC DOT in waiting?) talks to America's leading transportation podcast.

August 26, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines: Pay-to-Play Edition

Well-founded delivery app lobbyists are running roughshod at the City Council. Plus more news.

August 26, 2025

Mamdani Pledges to Finish Adams’s Abandoned Bike and Bus Lanes Amid City Hall Bribery Scandal

Mamdani vowed to complete street redesigns that Mayor Adams killed due to political pressure and, in at least one case, alleged bribes.

August 25, 2025

Monday’s Headlines: Summer Streets Post Mortem Edition

One last halcyonic look at Summer Streets. Plus a veritable encyclopedia of news from the weekend.

August 25, 2025

STREETSBLOG ABROAD: We’ll Never Have Paris … Unless We Start Rebuilding Our City Like The French Did

Où es-tu allée, Anne Hidalgo? Notre ville tourne vers vous ses yeux solitaires.

August 25, 2025

INVASION OF THE BODY-SNATCHERS: Self-Driving Taxis Have Come for Your Roads, Jobs

What could possibly go wrong? Perhaps we get safer streets. Perhaps every taxi driver loses his or her job.

August 25, 2025
See all posts