Comments on: Parking your motorcycle in Manhattan

By: scott

scott — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:54:47 +0000

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.

By: MrP

MrP — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:29:43 +0000

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.

By: Pat

Pat — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:21:35 +0000

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

By: Jesse

Jesse — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:44:05 +0000

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/

By: Maureen

Maureen — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:17:10 +0000

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…

By: Leo

Leo — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:20:52 +0000

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.

By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:24:43 +0000

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!