Hello all...

I am new to both the industry and this forum. I was hoping someone out there could help me. Recently, I took my niece into the city for a call back and the car was towed! I have searched the internet for NYC parking rules and it might as well be written in another language. Can anyone help me understand the "basics" of parking in NYC? The last thing I need is another $115 ticket and $180 fee for getting the car back (not to mention it was my sister's car!) I would appreciate any advice... Thanks!

READ all the signs on the block, and even then you can't be safe. If you have a small car and are not use to NY rules park for the 10 or 15 bucks it beats the tow. If you park on a block you must pay at the munimeter, but most importantly read all of the signs. It does get tricky, but you learn after a tow or 2!

Best bet with NY is to pay for parking, figuring out the parking signs is harder than stereo instructions. Don't even get me started on the commercial vehicles vs. regular from M Wed-th and some Sundays from 2-2:30 yet not on leap year or if your car is green

Or you can take the train! Always an adventure in itself!

When you have an address you can try iconparking.com and if there's an icon parking garage close to where you're going you can get good discounts, but you have to bring the printout with you for them to honor it!

In my experience, most street parking (in the areas where castings are normally held) is restricted to commercial vehicles during weekday business hours. There is a little more flexibility on the weekends, but you still have to be very careful. Occasionally I will luck out and find street parking, but not normally. I use NYCgarages.com to find the garages/pricing in the area we will be going. Good luck! They should offer a college course in NYC parking! You really do need a degree to figure out all the signs.

On a slightly different note, can anyone give any advice about long term parking? We are driving in for the summer & I'm not going to drive daily in Manhattan (I'm not crazy), so I'm curious to know where I can park safely for a reasonable fee.

quote:

Originally posted by mystylekids:
so I'm curious to know where I can park safely for a reasonable fee.

The site I listed also has monthly rates. You could start there.

Auntie (and others),

Another great site is www.nycgarages.com - put in the address you're going to and your expected in and out times and date, and it will show you the garages nearby and the rates (and the surcharge for oversized).

And being towed or booted once or twice is part of the whole learning curve! The parking rules are so confusing, because they vary so much in so many locations, but you (or your sister) will get the hang of it. And I often find that if I wait a few minutes after pulling into a space, I'll find another parker or a police officer (they're very helpful for the most part!) with whom I can confirm the rules and either stay where I am or move on (to a garage, most likely!).

I hear the cheapest long term parking (but I am not sure) is midtown way way west at about 11th.. open parking in a lot.. that is no garage. But it is the cheapest.

This site might help you...I get a free newsletter from them and you can get their publications at a discount as well.
http://www.wheretofindparking.com/

Thank you for all the great information! I definitely will not make the same mistake twice!

Also if you have anyone that you can take with you, they could just wait in the car. We're luck, as my hubby work in the city, and he usually meets me at the casting and waits in the car when we do the go-see.

But yes, the parking rules are tough in NYC, and best bet is to pay for parking; there are parking lots on every block (or two or three or four ... ).

NYC Parking durng biz hours are really dedicated to commercial vehicles loading and unloading, so unless you have an audition after 7 p.m., then reading the signs really will not benefit you. As one person mentioned some parking places you would need to feed a munimeter, which isn't very beneficial either because most of them have max limits of about 2 hours and chances are you will be spending more than 2 hours in your audition and I'm sure you don't want to be running back and forth feeding a meter. If you don't mind paying the parking fees, which can be pretty expensive (unless you're being reiumbersed for them). The best bet that one other person mentioned is to take public transportation.

2 hour auditions are definately not the norm usually half hour tops!!!