City Council plans bill to require local parking permits in Manhattan
Legislators plan to introduce legislation on Wednesday that would require the Department of Transportation to implement a residential parking permit system in designated parts of the city — including much of northern Manhattan.
One proposed bill would cover all areas between 60th Street and Inwood and would allow the DOT to reserve as many as 80 percent of the parking spaces in certain areas for local residents.
Manhattan City Council members Mark Levine, Helen Rosenthal and Keith Powers said the measure is needed because so many park-and-ride commuters from outside the borough take up spots in residential neighborhoods and then hop on the subway.
“For too long suburban commuters have taken advantage of free street parking in Northern Manhattan and crowded out the people who actually live in our neighborhoods,” said Levine, a co-chair of the Manhattan delegation.
“Whether you live in Washington Heights or the Upper East Side, parking in our borough is an incredible challenge for so many who live here,” he added. “We can’t afford to continue as one of the only big cities in America that doesn’t have a residential parking permit system–this policy is long overdue.”
The legislation would limit permits to those with a New York State driver’s license, one permit per driver, and would be attached to a specific license plate.
Another bill, by Council Transportation Committee Chair Ydanis Rodriguez (D- Upper Manhattan), would seek a citywide residential permit parking system. It would require permit holders to pay yet-to-be-determined fees to park in their designated areas.
Rodriguez did not immediately return messages.
Both bills leave the determination of the parking hours and locations where parking would be reserved for permit-holders to the DOT, which in the past has expressed resistance to such programs.
A spokesperson for Council Speaker Corey Johnson said he’s reviewing the bills.
Reps for DOT and Mayor de Blasio’s office said they would review the legislation when introduced.
The bills faces at least one major hurdle — by some officials’ reckoning, Albany would have to give its permission to implement the program.
City DOT officials say they believe residential permit parking would require state approval.
Additional reporting by Danielle Furfaro