I Have (unfortunately) an european handicaped parking permit. I often stay in Florida where this permit is admitted. Is-it easy to find free parking spots in NYC (even at night) in these conditions? If yes I'll rent a car during my stay.
Thanks
Alain (Paris, France)

Parking on the street in most areas of NYC is very hard to find. When parking in lots or garages a handicap permit makes no sense since your car is generally taken to be parked by an attendent. Self park garages will have designated handicap spots. There is no reason to rent a car in NYC and infact would be quite an inconvenience.

Free Parking is VERY difficult in NYC, at times impossible. Sometimes between certain hours (usually at night, sometimes on weekends) you can park for free but then the car must be moved at a certian hour, when the rules change. WIth the exception of maybe a rare handful of municipal parking facilities, there is much available for handicaped parkers. Whatever info there is, can be found on the NYC dept. of transportation website, http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/home.html. In general it is not advisable to have a care in NYC.

Just saw a typo, "there is much available for handicaped" should read "there is NOT much ..."

Alain, NYC only recognizies its own handicapped parking permits for street parking not even those issued by the STATE of NY (all state permits, and probably international ones, would be valid for handicapped designated spots in municipal parking lots, bnut there aren't very many lots in NYC!

http://home.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/permits/pppdinfo.html

However, with a NYC permit(which you must apply for and which has very strict criteria for acceptance)- you can park at many street places that are generally "no parking", so the generally impossible to find a spot situtaion is not quite as bad.
Still, I wouldn't recommend renting a car if you are able to travel with other vehicles like a cab. It will probably be
cheaper in the long run (car rentals are expensive here) and much less stressful!