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

New York Has 81,875 Metered Parking Spaces, And Millions of Free Ones

Today's New York Post story about City Council Member David Greenfield's desperate push to squeeze a few more parking spaces out of New York City curb space reminded us of this neat little chart, which shows the total number of parking meters in the city, broken out into single-space meters and muni-meters. If Greenfield and other council members want to get serious about opening up curb space, they need to take a hard look at these numbers.

The chart, put out by the city as part of its request for ideas on how to privatize its infrastructure, shows the total number of metered parking spaces increasing from 72,010 in 2006 to 81,875 in 2010. (That increase, most likely, isn't due to adding meters to significant new stretches of the curb, but from single-space meters getting converted to muni-meters, which allow more cars to fit on a block.)

That's an incredibly small number when taken in context. There are between 3.4 and 4.4 million on-street parking spaces in New York City, according to an extremely rough estimate by parking policy expert Rachel Weinberger, based on her field work in Park Slope and Jackson Heights.

Using those numbers, only 1.9 to 2.4 percent of all on-street spaces have a meter. Everywhere else, drivers can store their private vehicles on valuable public property at no cost, moving them only when alternate side parking rolls around. That's an enormous giveaway of public space, and it also makes it harder for drivers to find parking. As long as there's no price on so much scarce curb space, the search for an open spot is going to be pretty tough in a lot of neighborhoods.

Of course, it's almost as scandalous that no official count of on-street parking exists. San Francisco became the first major city in the nation to tally all its parking last year, but New York has not followed suit. Right now, the city is turning to the private sector ostensibly to get as much as it can out of its parking infrastructure. Truly maximizing New York's valuable curbside space, however, seems like it will be impossible as long as the city leaves some 98 percent of it completely unpriced and untracked.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

West Side Pols Call on Trump Administration to Stop Illegally Blocking 10th Ave. Bike Lane

The DEA blockade of the 10th Avenue bike lane continues, and local politicians are demanding the federal agency stop denying cyclists safety.

October 1, 2025

When the DOT Takes Your Bike: A Cyclist’s Guide to Getting It Back 

A bike commuter's frustrating journey through New York's bureaucratic maze reveals a hidden problem affecting cyclists citywide. 

October 1, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines: This is Your DOT on Drugs Edition

Yes, that's our editor consuming drugs in front of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration office on 10th Avenue to protest the agency's seizure of the bike lane. Plus other news.

October 1, 2025

BIG ZERO: Trump Stiffs MTA in ‘Sanctuary City’ Tantrum

The federal government is denying the MTA tens of millions of dollars in public safety funding over of New York's immigration policies.

September 30, 2025

Gale’s A-Blowin’: Brewer Abandons Daylighting Bill After Push By Parking-First DOT

DOT's anti-daylighting "scare tactics" have peeled off Council Member Gale Brewer, who says the policy will gobble up too many parking spots.

September 30, 2025

DATA: Not Paying Fines? Keep Speeding, Says New York City

It's yet another case of "anything goes" for drivers in Adams's New York.

September 30, 2025
See all posts