Bad Parking and Less Space – Thank You, NYC!

We have, all, seen this phenomenon: if only that car would have been parked just a few inches forward, or backwards, then one of us could have been able to squeeze our vehicle in. But, no! Some selfish drivers just think of themselves without thought or consequence on how precious parking space is. That is the dilemma that is facing every single driver that lives in a congested city.

Let’s take a look at the vehicle situation in New York City. Going over the public data-set from New York State, I was able to extract the desired information for this city, which is made up of Bronx, Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, Richmond (Staten Island), and New York (Manhattan) (https://data.ny.gov/Transportation/Vehicle-Snowmobile-and-Boat-Registrations/w4pv-hbkt). As of July 24, 2022, there were a total of 2,264,320 registered vehicles in NYC.

As you you can see from this chart, the amount of registered vehicles is divided into the NYC boroughs that they were registered to.

 

Borough	SUM of Count of Vehicles
Bronx	299782
Brooklyn	560785
Manhattan	260363
Queens	857007
Staten Island	286383
Grand Total	2264320

According to this report (http://web.archive.org/web/20220703000519/https://toomanycars.nyc/), there is an excess of parking spaces for just about everyone. I used their chart, and added it to the one above, and these are the results:

 

Borough	Total Vehicles	Street Parking Spots	Spots Left
Bronx	299782	419999	120217
Brooklyn	560785	740000	179215
Manhattan	260363	189406	-70957
Queens	857007	1200007	343000
Staten Island	286383	440000	153617
Grand Total	2264320	2989412	725092

I, really, don’t know if I can appreciate the data from that site. I understand that they are taking known measurements, and converting them to average car sizes that can fit into a parking spot. However, they have not taken into consideration that there are vehicles from other localities that park in NYC, such as from Westchester, and New Jersey, thus adding to the total amount of vehicles that need parking space.

There are other parking issues, as well. Going over this report from the New York Post (http://web.archive.org/web/20210622180856/https://nypost.com/2021/05/23/nyc-gave-up-8550-parking-spots-for-outdoor-dining-amid-covid/), restaurants were given about 8,550 parking spots in order to allow outdoor in order to curb the COVID pandemic. This was in the year 2021. A year later, we still see these spots that have not been recovered by the public.

Let us not forget this one: One of the worst offenders in the disappearance of parking spaces in NYC is the borough of Bronx. On the Grand Concourse Blvd, long blocks of streets have been marked for gentrification, and these projects to fix the streets take years to finish. Meanwhile, hundreds of vehicle owners are left to fend for themselves in order to find a parking spot for the evening.

So...knowing how difficult it is to find a parking space, why is it that certain New Yorkers do not show some brotherly love to their fellow drivers, and be courteous with the limited amount of space? That is something that is beyond the scope of this article, and should be explored in another one that may be able to explain the psychology of drivers.

For now, just understand the problem, and be a part of the solution.