Seeing double or just Two Alternate Side Oases the next two weeks?

You're not celebrating too much. It's not a mirage! Park the Car for Thursday like I did today (10/30) and you don’t have to move it again until next Tuesday! You know the “next” that means the second Tuesday from today. That’s 11/9. We are talking nine (9) hallowed, democratic, light-filled, Alt Side-free days you don’t have to move your car. You can move it! You just choose not to.
Then, after moving it for Tuesday, 11/9, thanks to Veterans Day and the typical OFF days (the Wed/Sat and, of course, Sun OFF days for most of us), you are good for another five (5) days!
I’m not even going to mention the three (3) Suspended Days the week after!
For a complete calendar of Alternate Side Suspensions go to our web site.

What’s so special about Sundays?

Those of you already familiar with the parallelspaces.com Manhattan Street Parking Map (And why wouldn’t you be? You can get essential block-by-block parking information for free.) know that Sunday Rules have their own layer and symbol (see above illustration). Some members have asked why does no other day of the week receive this special treatment? Saturday for instance?
In case you thought I was going to launch into a religious argument, let me say right now that those of us who park on NYC’s streets treat all Alternate Side Rules Suspension Days equally. No matter what the religious observance or holiday, we always feel equal opportunity blessed.
The simple answer is Sunday rules are so much more relaxed (or nonexistant) that they warranted special notice. Many believe God rested on Sunday, but those of us driving and parking in this city are the ones getting that much needed rest now, and dedicating a layer to just Sunday rules makes it even a little more convenient.
The sad truth is back in the early 90s when I first explored this parking map, there was a Saturday symbol (see obsolete Saturday symbol illustration). Saturday rules were considerably more relaxed then, but in this present day NYC boomtown, Saturday rules are common and often just a continuation of the Monday – Friday rules. Saturday rules are just no longer different enough to justify the clutter its own unique symbol would add to the map.
If this all seems a little unfair, please click on the Contact the Mayor link to the right and ask Mayor Bloomberg to roll back the Saturday parking rules. Otherwise, just enjoy the fact that nowadays Sunday parking is easier to predict and even easier to find.

The Lincoln or the George Washington?

Ever wonder when starting out on that much needed vacation which tunnel to take? The George Washington is farther away, but it’s almost rush hour and the bridge might be faster. Wouldn’t it be nice to know before you get in the car what traffic is like to the stadium? If you have access to the web, you have access to the NYC Dept of Transportation’s Real Time Traffic Cameras (see screenshot above) and you can see current traffic flows all over the city for yourself.
In the above screenshot, I have selected the Lincoln Tunnel camera which opened the Lincoln Tunnel window (with the camera view) on the right. Note: when you rollover a camera icon with your cursor, a panel pops up to identify the camera’s location.
As mentioned before in these pages, this DOT site offers a lot of easily accessible and useful information from parking sign locations to bike rack maps and every New Yorker, and especially every inner city driver, should pay a visit at least once.

twitter of Alternate Side Rules in NYC Is Up

OK, I listen to various radio stations in the morning and several of them make hourly announcements of whether Alternate Side Rules are in effect or not. parallelspaces.com offers an Alternate Side Rules Suspension Calendar, but maybe that kind of info would also be nice to have in the palm of your hand. So parallelspaces.com has launched a twitter account to offer that same service to be available on your mobile phone. Check it out @AltSideParkNYC and, if it can be useful, become a follower.

Pay less for your parking tickets already!

A look at my blog stats recently made me realize that surprisingly few of you have clicked on the Apply for Online Reduction of Parking Fine Page (under Some Useful Links) that explains the city's reduction of parking fines program.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, you've probably been overpaying your parking tickets by almost half. That means for the savings on one (1) ticket alone, you could be a high ranking member of the parallelspaces.com parking map web site and have all those Manhattan parking rules up on your computer screen or on your touch screen mobile whenever you feel like it for a year and still have plenty left over to wash that clunker of yours!
Still thinking about it?

Alternate Side Suspended Again and Again!

Yes it's true. Alternate Side Parking is suspended on Thur (9/30) and Fri (10/1) so that even that most devout ritual can have a day of rest. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 of them actually!

We who park on NYC streets celebrate all religions and this week especially. So while some will understandably be aware of less earthly matters, others will just be aware. So if you move your car tomorrow, you will not have to worry about moving it again until Monday. Or, for the really initiated, move it Tue and not worry about it again until next Tue.

Check Twitter AltSideParkNYC for daily Alternate Side rules in effect.

Tight Lipped City Officials Won’t Say where Parking Spaces Will Be Cut.

As many of us have realized the Bloomberg’s administration “re-engineering of the city’s street grid” is costing us parking spaces, not to mention adding to the very traffic congestion he was once so determined to alleviate with a drivers tax. Apparently he means to break those too many Manhattan drivers the old fashioned way, by just saying no. But the most alarming thing I have heard about these traffic redesigns came in a New York Times article this summer.
This article recounts statistics that show that the deadliest pedestrian accidents occur when male drivers turn left (and our favorite passenger said we weren’t listening!). The article also talks about the Bloomberg administration’s series of traffic pattern changes (barring vehicles from major avenues, the bike lanes, etc,). Then the article mentions a planned series of changes in line with these latest statistics and we are told:
"Dozens of parking spaces will be removed next year from a major Manhattan avenue — officials would not say which one…”
Representatives of the Bloomberg administration, our elected city government, already has plans for substantial changes on a major Manhattan avenue, but would not say which one. Excuse me? Does that feel as creepy to you as it does to me?
Our administration is playing secrets with public policy. Traffic strategies affect local residents and businesses and directly impact those businesses’ economic value. We have a right to know. Since when is our American standard of open government subject to the whims of a few people who won a local election? Do we have a democratically elected Mayor or a Czar? Even Dad will let us know what kind of cake he is baking before it’s finished. Maybe that third term really does pervert all Mayors’ sense of entitlement. But no, I can’t imagine Ed Koch using such an intrigue, looking askance, like a jilted Doris Day, and refusing to say where he plans to make changes that will affect traffic and parking on a major Manhattan avenue.
If this administration truly fears open debate, prepared community review, and needs to ambush local communities with its special agenda, then maybe it’s because it’s not such a good agenda. Please feel free to click on the Contact the Mayor link to the right and let Mayor Bloomberg know you are old enough to know what he plans to do in your neighborhood before he actually does it.