Parking in NYC

NYC is a huge and very busy metropolis. With a population of over 7 million people living and working in the greater NYC district, and a tourist population of almost a third of that, parking is fast becoming a real problem. There just isn't enough space for all those vehicles! And as an exotic car renter, you want to make sure that if you park your car, it will be there in one piece when you come back; not missing tires or a windshield for example. Parts theft is a big problem, and you need to be aware and alert to where and how you should park your rental in order to keep your exotic car rental safe and sound.

Some precautions to take include:
Never leave anything valuable in your car. Thieves tend to stake out their prey, and if they see you parking your exotic car rental and know you have left bags of shopping in or under the backseat, this makes your car fair game. Try to take all important belongings with you, or at least store them hidden in the trunk. The more persistent thieves may even try to get into the trunk, so don't ever leave purses or money stored there.

If you are parking at a meter, make sure to feed it regularly. The city issues over 14 million parking summonses a year, and 800 of these vehicles are towed daily because the meters run out of time. Don't be one of the unfortunate people who come back from a shopping outing or dinner and find their car either ticketed or towed. To be safe, put extra coins in the meters, or be prepared to run back and forth out to the street to avoid the Parking Patrol.

If parking your exotic rental car on the street, there are a few things you should know. For example, The City suspends alternate side parking regulations on the 32 legal and religious holidays including Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Day, New Years Eve and Day, Labor Day and others (visit http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us for a list of all the holidays observed). This policy is enforced jointly by the Department of Transportation, the Department of Sanitation, and the Police Department.

On major legal holidays, No Stopping, No Standing, and No Parking regulations are suspended, except for No Parking / Standing Anytime signs. Those are still in effect. Parking meter regulations are also suspended on major legal holidays. Beginning in 2003, alternate side parking regulations were suspended on three additional holidays: Asian Lunar New Year, Ash Wednesday, and Purim.

There are parking garages and open-air lots throughout the city. Watch for signs advertising these lots, or sometimes they have employees standing in the street motioning you to their lots. Many garages cut their rates on the weekend. Depending on where you park (Midtown being most expensive), garage rates may range from $6 to $15 for the first hour to $40 per day, with special rates of about $20 on Sundays.

A highly recommended alternative to parking at meters and taking your life in your own hands is Professional Valet Parking Services. This service offers an online database where you can, in advance, book a parking spot in any of 175 different secure parking garages around the different parts of New York. Rates are calculated by the number of hours you park, and where in New York you want to park. Some examples are:

• one hour parking in Greenwich Village on 5th Avenue costs $13
• one hour parking in Greenwich Village in Cooper Square is $9

Spots can be booked by the hour, day, week or month in an easy and effortless manner. Contact www.iconparking.com or 877-PARKING for more details.