NEW YORK (PIX11) — There aren’t many greater feelings as a New York City driver than finding a free parking spot. That feeling may be harder to come by in the not-so-distant future, according to Zohran Mamdani’s deputy mayor.
Speaking at New York Law School on Thursday morning, Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan said the administration is open to increasing parking costs in the city.
“It’s not a no,” he responded to an audience member’s questions about increasing meter prices or metering currently free spaces. “Yes, we should be looking at all these things.”
It’s something that’s been suggested by the Center for an Urban Future in a report released in February, with ideas to increase revenue in New York City.
Mayor Mamdani has consistently said that the city is looking for different ways to pull itself out of a serious budget crisis. The mayor even suggested that hiking property taxes would be a last-resort effort if it comes down to it.
Report suggests expanding NYC paid parking
The report estimates that the city could get an extra $1 billion if officials expanded metered parking to 25% of the existing free street parking.
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Currently, there are roughly 80,000 metered spots of over 3 million total parking spaces in New York City.
Parking permits for a price?
The Center for an Urban Future also recommended instituting a residential parking permit system.
The system would charge a $75 parking permit fee for 10% of car-owning households in the city. The estimated returns would be $132 million annually, the report explained.
In total, the city would generate an estimated $1.3 billion in revenue that is not currently available to it.
Spencer Gustafson is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered New York state and city news since 2023. See more of his work here.
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