Can the cool kids park in the back?
May 21, 2010 10:33 AM Subscribe
Where can I park a schoolbus, registered as a motorhome, for free or cheap in New York City?
This would be long-term, more or less where the bus "lives" when it isn't on the road. Is it legal to park them on the road? Are there warehouses/storage facilities for things like this? Certainly Manhattan is out of the question, Brooklyn or Queens would be ideal. We just want to not get parking tickets all the time.
This would be long-term, more or less where the bus "lives" when it isn't on the road. Is it legal to park them on the road? Are there warehouses/storage facilities for things like this? Certainly Manhattan is out of the question, Brooklyn or Queens would be ideal. We just want to not get parking tickets all the time.
There were always a couple pickups with RV caps parked on Webster Ave along Woodlawn cemetery in the Bronx.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 10:58 AM on May 21, 2010
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 10:58 AM on May 21, 2010
I remember there was an article recently (in the New York Times maybe) about illegal long term RV parking in warehouses in Brooklyn and how the NYPD was increasingly shutting down these kind of operations. I'll try to find the article again, but it is something you should be cognizant of in your search.
posted by 2bucksplus at 11:45 AM on May 21, 2010
posted by 2bucksplus at 11:45 AM on May 21, 2010
This is it: Fire Department Shutting Down Hipster Trailer Park.
posted by 2bucksplus at 11:49 AM on May 21, 2010
posted by 2bucksplus at 11:49 AM on May 21, 2010
I'm assuming you don't want to live in it while it is parked? There are lots of businesses that provide that kind of service. Often larger Self-Storage type places will have some outdoor RV storage options.
I don't know New York specifically, but you should really have no trouble finding options if you google "RV storage NYC". It's a common, common requirement.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:57 AM on May 21, 2010
I don't know New York specifically, but you should really have no trouble finding options if you google "RV storage NYC". It's a common, common requirement.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:57 AM on May 21, 2010
None of the RV's were parked in warehouses, they were parked in lots. You can probably find a sympathetic parking lot happy to take your cash even if you are living in the RV/school bus. Green is green. Where people got kicked out is when they got STUPID. They parked in a corner of the lot near the street and it was painfully obvious that someone was living there. They had plants. They had flowerpots. They gave interviews to the local web sites in order to raise money for their rent because, you know, they were fighting the MAN! They were OFF THE GRID! And we should all fund their gritty adventure because they weren't paying RENT!
If you found someone who would let you do this, and I bet any amount of money that you will, if you keep it cool and quiet and use common sense, you will probably get away with it.
You're going to find something like this by using shoe leather. Most parking lots like this are locally owned, not owned by a parking company; you'll have to drive around and find one, write down a phone number, talk to a human being who likely owns the lot. The further out you go the better.
In terms of street parking, there are places in the outer reaches of BK and QNS where a blind eye is turned to these things. But you'd have to get into the good graces of the locals or find your vehicle gone when you came back.
posted by micawber at 12:41 PM on May 21, 2010
If you found someone who would let you do this, and I bet any amount of money that you will, if you keep it cool and quiet and use common sense, you will probably get away with it.
You're going to find something like this by using shoe leather. Most parking lots like this are locally owned, not owned by a parking company; you'll have to drive around and find one, write down a phone number, talk to a human being who likely owns the lot. The further out you go the better.
In terms of street parking, there are places in the outer reaches of BK and QNS where a blind eye is turned to these things. But you'd have to get into the good graces of the locals or find your vehicle gone when you came back.
posted by micawber at 12:41 PM on May 21, 2010
None of the RV's were parked in warehouses, they were parked in lots.
Instead artsy hipster types are peeping an unmarked 6,500-square-foot warehouse with 16-foot ceilings in Bushwick (off the Montrose L stop) housing salvaged campers. "Private artist studio space," is how cofounder Hayden Cummings describes the six campers, currently part of The Nut Factory (formerly a nut roasting factory). "There's no affordable private space for artists to create art together, so now it's come to campers in warehouses."
- New York Magazine
posted by 2bucksplus at 12:49 PM on May 21, 2010
Instead artsy hipster types are peeping an unmarked 6,500-square-foot warehouse with 16-foot ceilings in Bushwick (off the Montrose L stop) housing salvaged campers. "Private artist studio space," is how cofounder Hayden Cummings describes the six campers, currently part of The Nut Factory (formerly a nut roasting factory). "There's no affordable private space for artists to create art together, so now it's come to campers in warehouses."
- New York Magazine
posted by 2bucksplus at 12:49 PM on May 21, 2010
Best answer: Whoever owns the school buses for the schools in your area will usually have a large lot someplace to park them, which is likely nearby, when not ferrying the kids back and forth. Could maybe talk to them to see if you can tuck it away there.
posted by hungrysquirrels at 4:54 PM on May 21, 2010
posted by hungrysquirrels at 4:54 PM on May 21, 2010
There are some Walmarts in New Jersey. Are they still letting campers park overnight in their parking lots?
posted by CathyG at 3:16 PM on May 22, 2010
posted by CathyG at 3:16 PM on May 22, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
Manhattan may be a better bet, actually. There are tons of parking garages in Manhattan and they all offer monthly rates. Though I don't know if they'll take buses.
Google around for parking garages until you find one that has good prices & will take a bus.
Another option is long term parking at an airport, or renting out a driveway (though good luck finding one big enough for a bus - maybe at the edge of Queens).
posted by MesoFilter at 10:49 AM on May 21, 2010