We are moving our son from Richmond Va. into an apartment in New York city next month, and staying with him there over the weekend. We need to park the car over the weekend (Fri. - Mon.) after dropping his things off at his apartment but understand parking is a problem in the city during the week and quite expensive. Would it be better to park the car outside Manhattan and take a cab or train back in? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Search for Icon Parking locations, a series of garages that often offer better rates than others.

http://www.iconparking.com/

(If you've already driven into Manhattan, there's no reason to leave Manhattan to park the car. Tolls and public transit/taxis will eliminate the savings.)

Depending on where you will be, there may be good street parking. On some side streets, 'alternate parking' allows parking on certain days, muni meters are free on Sundays, etc. If you decide to park on the street, make sure you read the signs carefully - and then read them once more! Where, exactly, is your son in the city?

If you're talking about Memorial Day weekend, you might find that on-street parking is available. Depends on the neighborhood; lots of people leave town on holiday weekends. When I moved my daughter out of her apt on West 86th Street on a Labor Day weekend, I was able to park right in front of the building! Otherwise, I agree with the above advice to jsut find a nearby garage.

Finding street parking in some neighborhoods can be relatively easy over summer weekends as locals start taking weekend trips or longer vacations.
What neighborhood, and what dates? For example, the Upper East Side can be pretty empty some weekends, but if it's the weekend of a big parade (like the Puerto Rican parade on June 14th) it will be nearly impossible

Exactly where is the apartment? In some areas you will be able to park over the weekend - but perhaps not on Monday - depending on street cleaning rules. Icon parking is good if you have to put the car in a garage.

Driving out of Manhattan won't help a lot - since parking can be just as difficult in any easily place reachable by subway. And taking a cab back and forth plus tolls will probably cost as much as parking would. (Getting far enough from Manhattan to park easily on the street in a safe area can be 30 to 40 minutes away - no really practical.)

You can also search for garages and lots at http://nyc.bestparking.com

You can enter the duration of your (car's) stay, and it will return rates and a local map.

You'll get a better answer by providing the date and location. People who are local to the area will know the best places to find parking.

I you are coming on a holiday, Memorial and Independence days are my favorite time to park in my area, residential. More spaces, less traffic.

Just to give you an idea of rates, I chose an arbitrary time period, 3 p.m. Friday until 3 p.m. Monday during the first weekend in June, and an arbitrary location, the East 80s.

http://nyc.bestparking returned rates ranging from $75 to about twice that for the weekend. The Upper West Side ranged from $87 upwards.

Obviously, this is subject to change depending on your actual timing. And, of course, as others have noted, you could find street parking, but beware of the arcane (to non-New Yorkers) alternate-side-of-the-street parking regulations. Read signage carefully if you park on the street. A parking ticket would probably cost more than the priciest garage!

In NYC Parking tickets start at $150 - and if you leave the car illegally they will ticket it repeatedly - so illegal parking isn't the answer. And if you park illegally on alternate side of the street cleaning days they can tow your car - and it will cost in excess of $1000 to get it back.

If you give us the details we can give you realistic options.

We are moving him to east midtown the weekend of June 5-8. I've checked nyc.bestparking.com and see a lot of options that should work. I'll also take a look at iconparking.com. Thanks for all the suggestions!

Well on the 6th and 7th you can park in many places on the sidestreets for free - not avenues, which have meters - but do check since each area is different. That should save you two days worth of garage costs. But - do not leave ANYTHING visible in the car, be sure you follow the parking signs exactly. At that time you should be able to find a spot with 15 or 20 minutes of driving around. Just be sure you have moved the car by the no parking time on Monday am.

Hooking onto this thread -
We'll be dropping off a granddaughter next month in the West 80s. As her room won't be available til 7pm, we'd like to look around the neighborhood during the day. Is there a parking garage in the area with decent security where we can park a station-wagon full of gear.
Thanks.

A New Yorker we met in a bus line suggested finding a hospital parking lot. Is there one nearby?

You absolutely do NOT want to leave a staion wagon full of gear in a hospital parking lot - and there are none nearby anyway. You want a garage with an attendant (there are very few "lots" but many garages). If you search the address on Iconparking.com it will show you nearby garages and give you rates for the hours you need. They are manned 24 hours a day and whatever you leave in the car (you leave key with them since cars are parked nose to tail and often have to be moved)will be secure.

Great site! Having a 24 hour attendant should do the trick.
Thanks very much.

I'd feel safer if the car was parked on a major avenue, like Broadway or Columbus. Like in front a restaurant with outdoor seating.

My suggestion was based on the first poster's question-not about the car filled with stuff.

You can't park long-term on the avenues. They are metered and there's a limit - 1 or 2 hours, I forget which. And you would have to keep running back and forth to pack in all those quarters in the muni meter and then put the slip inside the car. A major pain. And it could take a long time to find a spot on an avenue near the apartment.

The major gargae chais are erfectly reliable unless you leave large amounts of cash sitting on the front seat.