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With New York City facing a budget gap estimated at around $7 billion, new Mayor Zohran Mamdani would prefer to tax the rich. But lately, Mamdani and his administration have conceded that other ways to raise revenue for the city need to be considered, from higher property taxes on homeowners to a long-talked-about idea that would upend a feature of life in the Big Apple many residents have long considered a right: ample free parking.
New York has about 3 million curbside parking spaces, and roughly 97% of them are free. Eliminating this perk has been floated, unsuccessfully, many times. However, given an overall annual municipal budget over $100 billion and Mamdani’s need to close the budget gap, there may be more momentum. It would follow in the footsteps of many other U.S. and European cities where using more public parking space as a way to raise revenue is already common. The topic has assumed a higher profile within public policy discussions across the U.S. at a time of widespread municipal financial strain.
For New York, the idea of charging for parking gained renewed public interest this month following remarks by Dean Fuleihan, first deputy mayor of New York City, at a Center for New York City and State Law event. The topic came up in response to an audience member’s question about raising additional revenue by changing the city’s approach to street parking.
