New York City has always been a headache for drivers, and some 6,100 street parking spots have vanished over the last year in favor of bike lanes, restaurant seating and ride-share drop-offs. That means more drivers than ever are circling around the block, and fighting for pricey reserved spaces.
That’s why Matt Rossi, a 23-year-old marketing analyst who lives in Murray Hill, has opted out — and instead parks his 2007 Jeep Liberty in White Plains.
“It’s planes, trains and automobiles to get to,” he said of the free lot next to his office, which is 30 miles from his apartment. “It’s an hour and a half door to door.”
But, hey — it’s free!
One Manhattan banker named Jonathan, who asked that his last name be withheld for privacy reasons, stores his collection of vintage cars in New Jersey and also keeps two cars in Manhattan garages, which costs him $800 a month total.
“I bought a $5,000 Mercedes SL 500 off of eBay for commuting, because all my cars get ruined in garages in the city,” he said. “They bash [the Mercedes] up but it doesn’t matter as much.”
And no matter how much money you have, you can’t just buy the building next door and turn it into a garage: Manhattan zoning laws prohibit new curb cutouts.
Having a legal pre-existing curb cut “adds at least 10 percent in value” to a property, estimates Compass real-estate agent Leonard Steinberg.
View Slideshow
Source: Read Full Article