Parking your motorcycle in Manhattan
Sep 23rd, 2009 by Leo
Broadway near 57th St
Some people have the street parking gene, and some people don’t. It’s a combination of patience, timing, and incredible cheapness (a visceral unwillingness to pay for a lot). Mainly the ones who don’t have this gene move to places like Jersey or Staten Island and park their cars in garages. However, if you do have the street-parking gene, and you know how to park your car in the city, then parking a motorcycle in the city is MUCH easier than parking your Beemer…
Yes parking in Manhattan is a pain, and the rules are unfair, and enforcement varies from street to street, month to month… But on a normal day I can ride past 50-100 parked motorcycles and scooters between the 59th Street bridge and Times Square.
[I've been debating whether I should put up pictures - but I decided against taking pics of other people's bikes...I don't want to give thieves a map to the nice ones, and for bikes parked not-so-legally I don't want some City Council person pressuring parking enforcement to take action.]
Now I’m sure there are Manhattan neighborhoods that are just impossible to park in where you can’t find a spot within walking distance… Fortunately there are parking garages that take motorcycles (acc. to one forum poster, the Hippodrome on East 44 bet 5th and 6th has monthly parking for $100. There’s also expensive motorcycle parking available thru these guys – but I think you’re better off doing the foot work of asking the garages near you). But if you just need to park for the day, I think you can park in most parts of Manhattan if you’re willing to walk a bit.
So here are some tips to finding decent parking in Manhattan…
- Look in residential neighborhoods – walk over a couple of blocks east or west and you usually have a residential neighborhood in midtown.
- Look for non-commercial-only muni meter parking. I’m sure this depends on the neighborhood, but in many parts of the city they don’t write tickets for motorcycles and scooters at street muni meters. * They will give you a ticket however, in most places, if it’s during a “Commercial Only Parking” time… The picture above is my Buddy Scooter at 57th and Broadway… I park there whenever I have to be in the area. There are a few bikes around the corner that park at commercial-only muni-spots without plates.
- Ask the parking ticket people. In busy areas (which most of Manhattan is) you can find a Traffic Enforcement Officer every other block. If you plan to park somewhere regularly, ask the ticket officer if THAT spot is okay… You can also ask things like “do I need to feed this meter?” Because enforcement varies in different parts of the city – I often find that the ticket people don’t care to write tickets for bikes in many areas. (Union Square is NOT one of them, if you’re parked at a meter there, remember to feed the meter – but non-commercial muni-meters are okay).
- Look for blocks where there are already two or more motorcycles parked. If you see bikes parked, there’s probably a way to scooch yours in also.
- Check alternate parking schedules for the best parking spots. If you know you’re going to get there before alternate side is over – you can nab the space at the front of the block near the crosswalk… Or right in front of the first car next to a fire hydrant or No Parking zone. You can make sure you’re parking someplace where the cars are not likely to run into your bike. An added bonus is that cars parked after alternate side tend not to move for the rest of the day.
- Can’t remember what the Alternate Side times were for a particular block? You can check it HERE on the DOT site… Very handy!
Do you have the street-parking gene? Pass on your tips to the rest of us in the comments section!
Related posts:
A warning on muni-meter parking:
I got ticketed last week for “not displaying my muni meter receipt” – it had either blown away, or was lifted by someone else.
In talking with my councilman’s assistant who reached out to DOT, DOT has *no* solution for muni-meter parking for motorcycles. And in talking with the agent, she would have ticketed me anyways if the receipt was in my wallet & not missing.
For the time being, park at muni-meters at your own risk. And lobby your council member for intelligent motorcycle parking at muni-meters!
Thanks for the warning Peter!
Although it hasn’t happened to me yet, I have it from reliable sources that if you do have the muni-receipt, you can mail it in with your ticket and it will be dismissed…
Someone mentioned that John Liu has been vocal that the city should NOT ticket motorcycles at muni- “lots” in Flushing because of this… I don’t know if the Comptroller has any say in that kind of thing, but if it makes you want to vote for him – it shows me that he’s at least thinking like a sensible person when it comes to motorcycle parking.
I love this topic. I do have the gene and am so grateful for it. I keep a Nissan Xterra in an indoor garage uptown and my bike in an outdoor lot across the street. I rarely have a problem finding parking, because i know where to go. As for riding, I have been parking all summer in a ‘not-so-legal’ spot with cover (in the heart of midtown) and so far, so good.
As for muni-meters, I don’t feed them and still, so far, so good.
What I did get is a red-light camera ticket way uptown. That there was no escaping
I wish someone would be clear on the rules. I’m happy to follow them, if I know what they are…
Be careful about parking on the end of the block by the crosswalk. It’s tempting, but I’ve been knocked over at least twice by corner-cutting cars making a turn.
If you regularly park on a block with a lot of other riders (as I do), it’s fun to team up and attempt to cock-block cars from parking.
A string of motorcycles and scooters parked together are FAR safer than individual bikes interspersed between cars.
If I see an opportunity to create a “block,” I will do so by parking as far away from another bike as I can without leaving enough room for a car. With a little practice, you and your riding/parking buddies can do this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jerlbaum/3311930196/
I park around 26 and 30th, east side. I see a lot of bikes and the best advice I have is to park between a hydrant (or no parking zone) and a car that will park behind you. Often my bike is knocked over when someone needs to back up. If they are looking at you bike from the front, they tend to gauge how far away your bike is.
______( ) /_____
/ = my bike
( ) = Their car
Keep pressuring your councilman, the DOT and the Mayor’s office for motorcycle/scooter designated parking areas. As of now the only designated areas that I know of are in the First Ave and Ave C loops of Stuyvesant Town. They took a total of 4 spots for cars and transformed it with 24 spots for bikes! Good luck finding a vacant spot. I park on the sidewalk (I do not hinder pedestrian traffic) and have not gotten a ticket yet. But even if I do I figure the cost of the fine will still be less then the repair of damage from being knocked over by a careless driver.
Have any of the council men been to Europe? What if these parking enforcement officers went to Sicily, they would faint, straight up they would bend over backwards and kick the bucket.