Private Parking Goes Deluxe

The world is coming to an end from climate change, New York will be under water in 10 years, and you New Yorkers are spending this much on a parking space?

“I don’t think this garage would have been viable a decade ago, to be honest with you,” said Arthur Blee. I appreciate your honesty, Arthur. But tell me, do these spaces have heating and cooling? I wouldn't want my Bentley to suffer while I'm busy down on Wall Street cheating and stealing while I'm gambling with my hedge fund.

Doesn't $200K get you many many years of ubering or taxi or whatever car transportation you would need? Waste of money.

The GOP wonder why democrats who think are so mad. They wonder why Bernie, Warren are making such a big deal about universal health care for ALL. they wonder why people feel that debt should be eliminated. This is a perfect example of what is wrong with the capitalistic system. Instead of fuilding affordable housing for the thousands sleeping in the streets, we are perfecting parking garages for the Wall street group that had to receive a bail out in 2008 due to their economic failings. Last week the people were in the streets because of climate change, Trump is running around trying to open up oil spots in Alaska. The white people because they are white are intent on destroying the world and ensuring that citizens stand in bread lines again. What is wrong with us. Are we so self centered and greedy that even your car needs to be in an apt. to rest. Our mass transit system, infrastructure is falling apart yet some rich persons car is safe and well cared for. How much of a tax credit did these developers get? I am sure it was a nice tidy sum. We are a soulless society and getting worst by the minute. I hope homeless people sleep outside this parking church developed for self importance "to look at me I am special." people. when you cant think of anymore waste of money rich people ,think of building another tower to themselves. NYC has turned into a town that no one recognizes anymore its just for the self centered elites who care for nothing but themselves.

What utter decadence. Why not hire a driver who lives out of town, pay him a decent salary, and not worry about parking. That would render many more benefits. What do you do when you leave your posh parking condo to go out for dinner, drive around looking for a parking space, park in some other lot, or leave town to park. We lived in the city in the 60's and had a Chrysler Imperial which my dad drove. Parking was easier, cheaper, and closer. Then we moved to Staten Island, a whole new world. I could never live in NYC again, and certainly not own a car.

Once we’re all riding around in driverless cars, your car will park itself in a remote, affordable garage. Then you can summon it with an app on your smart phone when needed.

One of the most upsetting aspects of this obscenity is that so many people seem to be taking it in stride. It's hard to imagine why anyone would be willing to pay astronomical amounts to park a car and behave as if it's business as usual; it's not surprising that developers have the chutzpah to demand these prices. As an ex-New Yorker I find the whole thing depressing.

Just join Classic Car Club Manhattan. Enjoy a great car and give it back to them at the end of the day. They even have a beautiful restaurant on the Hudson River.

If you own a vehicle in NYC and don’t actually drive for a living, you’re doing it wrong. I live in Kansas, and even I know better. Seriously.

Clearly, if you can spend an additional $100,000+ in addition to the monthly charges and it can't be financed through a mortgage, those that can afford such a luxury obviously have a great deal of money. Keep the garage public and tax them (heavily) instead. A win win for the city and its schools, in addition to funding our mass transportation and our nation.

Since these people seem to have more money than they know what to do with, why doesn't the city tax the purchase of extravagant parking spaces at an extravagantly high rate. I don't think these people will notice the extra few thousand dollars in cost but cumulatively it could help out the city a little bit.

It's just further suburbanization of NYC by the basics who, in the past, would've decamped for Greenwich or Mamaroneck after the first kid but have stayed in the city and moved into an urban subdivision. And honestly for the price they're all paying for their vertical tract-housing, they should get parking in their buildings because Lord knows they're not getting it in the quality of the construction or finishes. Who wants to walk one or two blocks to punch in a code or ask the valet for their car? What a hassle.

I hope the parking club members are driving the latest Ferraris and Lamborghinis or some priceless classics. Otherwise, this is like having a shoe box that costs more than the shoes.

The author fails to include a lot of useful information about parking in NYC. 1) A car owner who parks on the street must move his or her car three times a week to avoid street cleaning tickets, which are 65 dollars each in lower Manhattan. If one doesn't move, that's 130 in fines per week. 2) There's precious little on street parking in Manhattan, in part due to movie filming downtown. 3) In Manhattan, garages charge 600 a month for a parking spot and tack on an additional 300 dollars (300!) for German (and Italian cars). That's 900 a month. That's almost 11 grand a year. It's cheaper to buy than to rent/pay for a spot. 4) Rats can cause expensive damage in cars parked on the street.

Members-only parking garages? Could the future of NYC be any more bleak? I also find it interesting that this article referred to the ride sharing industry as 'continuing to pour extra vehicles onto streets', but then also mentioned an overall increase in the total number of cars on our streets (whether for private use and/or for use as a car-sharing service) as having increase in Brooklyn and Queens. It would be helpful to understand how much of the increase in car ownership is for person use cars and how much is for car-sharing services. What many private-use-only car owners fail to consider is that their cars typically transport one person (themselves) for 1-3 car trips tops, per day. Outside of those 1-3 trips, their car will typically be sitting parked (not in active use, yet taking up a parking spot...and often a Public Street space at that), for 90% of the time on any given day. Conversely, vehicles used for car sharing are transporting dozens of people per day, and are in active use for more of the day. Living in Astoria, Queens, I can attest that our streets are more crowded, and not by car services but by private car owners. I can tell by the appearance of the drivers...most appear to be 'locals' in big SUVs, doing 'neighborhood shopping', picking up their kids from school, etc. Most of these private car owners are lazy, pure and simple. Taking a bus, bicycle, car service, or walking would never occur to them. They just automatically reach for the keys.

For that price tag, isn't cheaper to hire a chauffeur?

Further adventures in terminal decadence of late stage capitalism.

This is so illustrative of what is wrong with America. The 1% paying obscene sums to house their cars, for sums far exceeding what most Americans can ever hope to spend on housing. And all this when we have a truly scary homeless problem.

For 200K I would hope the parking space comes with 2 rooms a marble bath and a river vu

Yet another sign that civilization is about to end.

Most of the country thinks NYC is full of insane people. Thanks for another illustration why. We bought two climate controlled spaces to park last year for around 500k. Also included was a private pool, laundry, and a 3/3 house with a marble fireplace and hardwood floors, on the National Register of Historic Places* *and yes, I’m sure the desert will be uninhabitable by next year, so don’t waste the electrons telling me that. Since the coasts are also going to be destroyed by flooding, I guess we had all better move to Detroit.

And I thought I got ripped off when NYCHA Parking sent me a bill for $1,352.87. Boy was I wrong!

A small number of ridiculous private parking garages is not particularly interesting or surprising in today’s money-centric climate. If the city truly wants to help with traffic and congestion it would eliminate all parking on one side of every side street. These streets are not wide enough to serve as double sided free parking zones. There would be room for deliveries without backing up entire blocks if only one side of each street had parked cars. The remaining side could become resident only parking, benefiting the people who actually live in the neighborhood instead of turning their streets into free parking zones full of cars circling trying to avoid paying to park. This would serve both the residents and the need to control congestion. Manhattan cannot continue to be inundated by cars and drivers who seem to think parking for free in one of the most congested places in the world is a right.

Late capitalism gets better every day

Americans' car obsession is completely ridiculous. And people who have this much money should maybe think about finding better, more useful ways to spend their money.

And when self-driving electric cars hit the market, all the parking licenses should be taxed into the stratosphere. Cities like NYC need to accommodate people, not cars, which aren’t in use a majority of the time by those who can afford these rates. Car share systems should become a part of the public transportation grid- as soon as the drivers can be replaced with AI. Then ban parking all cars that require a driver from the island. Problem solved. You park your Rolls outside the city- and ride in an AI driven vehicle to get to it- then motor away in the Catskills.

Brilliant! Let's encourage more cars! Just what Fun City needs.

So, apart from NYC's "over the water" fifth borough, and a few pockets in Brooklyn and Queens any pretense that the City remains a choice for middle to upper-middle income families is now gone. 500K for a parking space? Insanity. The very rich, often non-resident property investors (foreign and domestic) who sublet or let their property remain vacant until flipping it and the working poor (increasingly being displaced) are now the only residents in the other four boroughs not named Staten Island. A healthy metropolis? I'd say heavens no.

Good info here but please clarify licenses. The requirement that licenses need to be "resold to residents" means what? Who's selling? Who is receiving the funds? Is there a market price or is it set by the city? A google search on parking licenses turns up only parking lot licences.

Trying to keep a nice car in NYC is almost impossible. If I were rich, I'd swing for a couple of those pricey spots. However, given my comparatively modest income, I paid $600 per month plus tips for a garage a few blocks from my apartment, and my car was totaled in the parking garage. And don't even get me started on the street parking. But for someone like me who loves cars, the solution was to move out to CT, where I now have a beautiful 24' x 66' garage and workshop, with a 3 bedroom house attached for less than the cost of a basement studio apartment in my old neighborhood. Too bad NYC loses out on all my income and sales taxes, but city life ain't for everyone.

Not sure I would want to live in a building that has parking available for nonresidents for security reasons.

Gross waste of money. Why not invest in the children at the border that ICE is treating so badly?

I wonder if it's possible to buy this as a home. Sounds so cozy and warm, I'm sure I would be happy there.

"It’s sort of becoming an expected amenity for a high-end condo,” said Andrew Bradfield" indicating just how out of touch Andrew Bradfield is with anything remotely resembling reality.

maybe C. J. Hughes can research/write on the living conditions at "rest-stops" on I-95/CT Turnpike next?

The perplexing thing about the Parking Club is that there’s a regular valet garage two blocks away where you can rent a space for the same price as just the taxes and common charges on the deeded space...without having to plunk down $200k.

Next up: private public bathrooms with herring-bone ceilings, non-immigrant attendants and imported toilet paper for $185,000 to $200,000, plus monthly fees.

Gross. What a disgusting display of excess. And for it to be reported on at the same time as the article that 25% of luxury apartments remaining vacant! If only there were other economic strata of the population whose needs were worth tending to... Sigh.

Ooh, I can just imagine the conversations that must take place at "The Parking Club". Such fascinating people!

The same thought process of removing parking spaces for bike lanes. Brought to you by the same mentality that favors rent control.........

Is there enough healthy air so individuals can sleep in their cars?

The city's blinkered approach to controlling congestion (make driving and parking more, and more, and more expensive) will eventually yield the desired result: a small number of billionaires cruising effortlessly up and down Manhattan's avenues. At that point we can give them control of the traffic lights, to spare them the inconvenience of stopping, and declare the problem solved.

$100K for a parking spot in the locations cited in the article is a downright bargain! $500 per sq. foot in manhattan is 1/4 the price of most of the apartments that the garages reside in. That being said, monthly fees escalate on everything, and what may be $100 per month today can easily become a $400 charge in just a decade. If there's automation equipment, no telling when the "tenant" will get a $20,000 bill to cover their share of upgrades or repairs. At peak, I paid about $6,000 per year to park in Manhattan with taxes and tips (the latter being requisite to not arrive at the garage to wait a half hour for the attendant to get your car). On the other hand, I now live far away from the city, have ample parking for more cars than I would ever own (and some spare room for a jumbo jet too) and pay $0 a month for it. It's location, location, location in Real Estate.

That is quite literally insane. And Trumpmerica continues unabated.

If these folks can afford 200K parking spaces, then congestion pricing rates shouldn't make it onto their budget radar at all. Thus we will have a class of supposedly fellow citizens who--should they opt to drive their Mercedes themselves rather than be chauffeured around town--will truly be masters of all they survey. The hundreds of thousands of serfs with cars will subsidize their lifestyle with taxes, tolls and fees they were once told were destined to cover the costs of roads, bridges and tunnels.

The city needs to limit parking further, for better air quality and pedestrian safety, and needs to further strengthen transit to accommodate new ridership. There should probably be a blanket moratorium on all new parking spaces in the core neighborhoods. Cars are inherently anti-urban.

3..2..1, someone is going to post that rent controls have destroyed affordable parking in NYC. ;)