New York City is a place that is filled to the brim with people, whether living or working there. Millions of cars go through the city on a given day, and this has created a few unique issues that the city has had to work through. Among these is the issue of parking. Since New York City has a limited amount of real estate, people can’t just park wherever they want to. Instead, they need to follow a set of guidelines when they park in New York city. The following will help give you a better understanding of the specific rules and practices used in New York City to help regulate traffic.

Alternate Side Parking

One popular method New York City uses to keep parking organized is called alternate side parking. This city-wide measure requires drivers to park on the side of the street that corresponds to the day of the week. On odd-numbered days, drivers need to park on the side of the street where the addresses have odd numbers. On even-numbered days, drivers need to park on the side of the street that has even-numbered addresses. By using this parking plan, the city stops people from parking on both sides of the street and creating a bottleneck on smaller side streets.

Metered Parking

Parking meters are ubiquitous in New York City and should always be properly filled. New York City employs a brigade of traffic enforcement officers whose sole duty is to find people who don’t fill their meters. In some cities, you can get away with not paying the meter when you’re just running into a store to grab something quickly. In New York City, you should always pay the meter even if you won’t be in the spot for long enough to get your money’s worth.

Parking for Work

Parking on the street isn’t always optimal for people who will be leaving their cars alone for an extended period of time. Thankfully, there are a number of parking options for people who need to park indoors. Parking garages are common in New York City, and often have agreements in place with local businesses to provide lower fees to certain employees. If necessary, you can park on the street when you go to work. However, you should always park in areas that will remain well-lit once the sun goes down.

Desperate Measures

If you are in town for a business meeting and find yourself running late, you may find yourself having trouble finding parking. When in this position, it is best to find a nice hotel within a mile of your meeting place and have valet service take your car for you. It will be much more expensive than paying a meter or using a parking garage, but it gets the job done.

Parking is Tough in New York City

New York is an enormous city that needs to take parking seriously. If you follow the rules and play it safe, you’ll rarely ever have to worry about parking.