Manhattan’s worst ’hoods for parking
Drivers rack up more parking tickets in Manhattan than any other borough and are especially targeted in the Financial District and on the Upper East Side, a study has found.
Traffic agents doled out 25 tickets per parking spot in the Financial District last year, while slapping every Upper East Side space with an average of 24 summonses, according to the analysis by SpotAngels, an app that helps drivers find open spots.
“I got a parking ticket the other day while I was in the car,” groused Upper East Side worker John Mario Garcias. “The police officers don’t give you a break.”
Midtown drivers don’t fare much better, the figures show.
The NYPD’s ticket-writers handed out an average 22 summonses per parking space in the congested neighborhood in 2016, the study says.
On the flip side, drivers in Stuyvesant Town and Harlem got off easy. The two Manhattan neighborhoods saw an average of three and five tickets per parking space, respectively, according to the study.
Overall, about $200 million in parking tickets were written in Manhattan last year — or nearly half of the total $440 million in parking fines levied on all vehicles in the city, the figures show.
Adding insult to injury, the average ticket price in Manhattan — $79.82 — was also at least $9 more per ticket than other boroughs.
Every parking space in the Financial District alone generated an average of $2,219 for city coffers in tickets, the study says.
Scott Rosen, 32, who has lived in the neighborhood for eight years, said that when his cousin recently visited, “it took an hour to find a space that wasn’t ‘no standing.’ ”
“There are plenty of garages around — if you want to spend $60” overnight, Rosen lamented. “Also, the sheer amount of government vehicles . . . everything is always reserved.”
Lisa Ioffe, a 26-year-old pharmacist who lives in the area, said she has to fight to find parking for her vehicle.
She also complained that government officials often leave their vehicles in the area and flout local parking regulations yet don’t get ticketed.
“They should have designated areas for [officials] to park their cars,” Ioffe said. “There’s a lot of people who drive here from other places that have to have a car.”
On the Upper East Side, the most common violation was for parking too long.
“I get anxious, and I keep having to excuse myself because you start thinking about, ‘Oh, boy, I’ve got to get back out there,’ ” said Mary Khan, a 48-year-old yoga teacher.
An NYPD spokesman said it’s no surprise that the crowded areas of Manhattan see more parking tickets than others, since more drivers are vying for spaces there.
“Parking regulations vary dramatically across New York City based on a variety of factors, including business versus residential districts,” the representative told The Post
“The NYPD addresses parking issues where they are observed across the city and takes into account other factors like congestion, parking conditions and community complaints when conducting enforcement.”