Blog

Nov 23, 2023

NYC parking meters: How much does it cost to park across the city?

New York City's hourly parking meter rates vary throughout the five boroughs.

New York City's hourly parking meter rates vary throughout the five boroughs.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- If you’re someone who travels to New York City by car, you may have noticed that the on-street metered parking rates vary, depending on where you are.

Across the city, hourly parking rates range from $1.25 to $7.50 for personal vehicles, depending on the location of the spot and duration of the parking. For commercial vehicles, hourly rates range from $5 to $8.

Parking rates are cheaper during the first hour you’re parked, before increasing during the second hour in an effort to incentivize vehicle turnover.

"Parking rates vary across the five boroughs and are reflective of neighborhood parking conditions, including land use, density and parking demand. There are different parking rate zones across the city tailored to improve curb access, promote turnover and increase parking availability," according to the Department of Transportation (DOT) website.

New Yorkers can use the NYC DOT Parking Rate Map to view the various designated parking zones across the city, and see how much they’ll be charged for parking there.

Here's a look at the six different parking zones and how much drivers are charged.

Zone M1 – Midtown Core and Lower Manhattan

Zone M2 – Manhattan South of 96th Street (excluding Midtown Core and Lower Manhattan)

Zone M3 – Manhattan 96th St to 110th St

Zone 1 – Business Districts outside of Manhattan

Zone 2 – Neighborhood Retail Districts

Zone 3 – All Other Metered Locations

Staten Island consists primarily of Zone 3 parking meters, meaning drivers pay $1.25 for their first hour and $2 for their second hour.

The lone exception is a small segment of the borough's North Shore, near the St. George Ferry Terminal, which is designated as Zone 2 parking, with first-hour rates of $1.50 and second-hour rates of $2.50.

New Yorkers can pay for parking at curbside meters using coins and credit cards, or by using the free ParkNYC mobile app.

The ParkNYC app, which now accounts for over 40% of all parking payments in New York City, allows drivers to input their license plate number and parking zone information to pay the city's parking meters with a few quick taps.

In October, the DOT released an updated version of ParkNYC app, allowing drivers to pay for each individual parking session on their phone without pre-loading funds onto a mobile wallet.

Previously, the ParkNYC app required drivers to pre-load a minimum of $25 onto a mobile wallet that would be used to pay for future parking.

Now, drivers have a choice. They can continue to use a pre-loaded mobile wallet, or they can choose to pay-as-they-go for each individual parking session.

The mobile wallet option requires a $25 minimum every time you fill it up and carries a fee of 5 cents per wallet load.

Meanwhile, the pay-as-you-go method charges users a fee of 20 cents for each transaction, but doesn't require users to load larger amounts onto their account.

Many of the app's previous features remain the same, with users able to check how much time is remaining on their session, receive push notifications when their time is about to expire and extend their time up to the maximum limit for the zone, all from the app.

ADDITIONAL TRANSPORTATION NEWS

NYC comptroller sets higher wages for Staten Island Ferry engineers

NYC congestion pricing: Bipartisan congressional caucus formed to combat controversial program

Cell phone use, speeding and more: A breakdown of Staten Island's moving violations in 2022

NYC congestion pricing pushed back to 2024, costing $250M in revenue, MTA says

Speed cameras on Verrazzano? Staten Island lawmakers unanimously oppose state proposal

Getting to the bottom of it: Why Staten Island is the only NYC borough without a bike share program

MTA nabs 32 toll evaders with fines totaling $900K in record-setting day

If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation.