Cheap overnight parking in New York?

December 15, 2007 1:14 PM

How can I find parking in New York from Tuesday to Friday next week? Ideally it would be on Upper West Side Manhattan and not very expensive, but I could park farther afield.

I'm hoping to drive to New York next week (from Toronto), arriving Tuesday evening and leaving on Friday. It would be super if it were relatively secure parking (i.e., I could pack some stuff into it on Thursday and it wouldn't get broken into overnight), but I understand if that's not possible.

I'll be staying at W 84th St and Columbus, so any space near there would be great, but I would be willing to park farther away if that's what it takes to make it affordable. The real constraint is money - if parking is $50 a day, the trip won't make financial sense (and my girlfriend will move her stuff out another way).

Any advice is much appreciated.

posted by Dasein to travel & transportation (15 comments total)

You can just park on the street. Street cleaning is suspended next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, so you can park on any side of the street and you won't get a ticket. Just make sure you're 15 feet from a fire hydrant, and you're not in front of a church, and there are no signs saying no parking.
posted by ofthestrait at 1:33 PM on December 15, 2007

Oh, and, it's free.
posted by ofthestrait at 1:33 PM on December 15, 2007

And when i say "the street", i mean 83rd, 84th, one of the numbered streets. You'll have to pay to park on the avenues, I'm pretty sure.
posted by ofthestrait at 1:35 PM on December 15, 2007

Seriously? Overnight? No permits?
posted by Dasein at 1:35 PM on December 15, 2007

No permits.
posted by ofthestrait at 1:36 PM on December 15, 2007

I always have pretty good luck on Riverside in the 90s-100s. If there's no street cleaning you should be good to go.
posted by The Straightener at 1:45 PM on December 15, 2007

Yea, you should be fine parking on the side of streets. I do it all the time around the 90th to 110th area and Amsterdam. Normally you have to move your car depending on street cleaning days, but if that's suspended next week, you are golden.

As for security, you always take a risk by parking cars on the side of the street with contents that may be stolen. But I've parked in that area several nights each, several times a year for the past 5-6 years, and I've yet to have any problems.
posted by gemmy at 2:23 PM on December 15, 2007

Street parking is the way to go. You'll have to drive around for a while, but hey, that's the name of the game.

If you *really* get stuck on parking down in the 80s, roll on up Columbus to 110th where it becomes Morningside Drive. I've yet to see the spots get filled there (though I don't know the cleaning schedule / if it's suspended next week.)

If security's gonna be a big concern on Thursday, maybe consider springing for a garage that one night. If you do go the garage route, I've found that you'll get sometimes a 30%+ price drop just by parking farther away from Broadway (and hence, towards Columbus) in these parts. Also, garages not on 86th/96th/106th (the major cross streets) will probably be marginally cheaper, too.

I don't know anybody whose car has been broken into because of street parking, but then, my friends don't leave lots of enticing, visible stuff in their cars, either...
posted by theoddball at 3:23 PM on December 15, 2007

Break-ins in the area are fairly random and rare. I've had my car rifled through a handful of times, always when I've forgotten to lock it.
posted by stargell at 3:56 PM on December 15, 2007

For arrival on Tuesday nite at about 9 and departing on Friday at about noon, several of the garages at iconparking.com give a $90-$100 quote. It's more expensive than the street, but at least somewhat more secure.
posted by houseofdanie at 6:31 PM on December 15, 2007

roll on up Columbus to 110th where it becomes Morningside Drive.

Yeah, this is my neck of the woods and you should have no problem. Most of the area should be good, safety-wise. I see lots of out-of-state license plates on cars (few from Ontario, but lots from Quebec) Note that because of Christmas break, a lot of Columbia students, and their cars, are home for the holidays. Your luck is likely to be very, very, good uptown.
posted by xetere at 6:46 AM on December 16, 2007

Thanks for your help, everyone.
posted by Dasein at 9:25 PM on December 16, 2007

this is my neck of the woods and you should have no problem

This is not the greatest area to be hanging around after dark, though. Do not go into the park. Even during the day.
posted by oaf at 12:39 PM on December 17, 2007

This is not the greatest area to be hanging around after dark, though. Do not go into the park. Even during the day.

I gotta tell you, this attitude is from the 70s. I walk my dog in Morningside park every day. And while I might not go there at night in the winter (Summers people are barbecueing all night long) it is an incredibly safe park. The neighborhood is gentrifying so fast (That's good and/or bad depending on your attitudes) that it can, for all intensive purposes, be the upper west side.

Your biggest dangers are dodging drunken frat boys, and in the park, getting bitten by my very, very, grumpy very, very, old dog.

Dasein, trust me, the 'hood is fine.
posted by xetere at 9:13 PM on December 17, 2007

Just for the record, I lucked into a parking spot on 83rd right by CPW after about 5 minutes of circling, and the car was fine there for a couple of days. Worked out perfectly, so thanks everyone. Merry Christmas!
posted by Dasein at 1:14 PM on December 24, 2007