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Garage or street? Doing the math in NYC
Meter rates, the $65 cleaning ticket, the $185 tow and the 18.375% Manhattan parking tax. The real numbers behind NYC's oldest parking argument.
Circle for a spot and save the money, or pull into a garage and save the afternoon? Here are the numbers that decide it, each linked to the city or the state.
The street: meters
First hour / second hour on regular meters (DOT):
- Midtown core & Lower Manhattan (M1): $5.50 / $9.00
- Manhattan below 96th (M2): $5.00 / $8.25
- Business districts outside Manhattan (Zone 1): $2.50 / $5.00
- Neighborhood retail (Zone 2): $2.00 / $3.00 · Everywhere else (Zone 3): $1.50 / $2.50
Meters are free on Sundays and major legal holidays, and the block's posted time limit still applies (DOT).
The street: when it goes wrong
- Street cleaning: $65 · Expired meter: $65 below 96th St, $35 elsewhere (DOF)
- Hydrant or double parking: $115
- Tow: $185, plus $20 a night at the pound (NYPD)
The real cost of the street is the meter plus the risk.
Garages
Private garages set their own prices but must post them at the entrance (6 RCNY § 2-161). For a benchmark, the city's own garages (DOT):
- Delancey & Essex, Manhattan: $16 first hour, $50 for 24 hours
- Court Square, Queens: $9 first hour, $25 for 24 hours
Then add tax: 18.375% in Manhattan, 10.375% in the other boroughs (NYS Tax). A $40 Manhattan rate is about $47.35 with tax.
When each wins
Street: outside Manhattan's meter zones, short stays that fit the block's limit, Sundays and holidays.
Garage: Manhattan stays longer than the meter limit, events that might run late, or when a tow or missed train would cost more than the garage.
Find licensed garages near you on the Coordn8 garage map.
Published by Coordn8. Not legal or tax advice; the posted sign, the meter and the city's pages govern.