Forum Photo by Michael V. Cusenza
Most of Queens will see parking meter rates increase by 25 cents.
By Michael V. Cusenza
The first parking meter rate increase since 2013 is scheduled to hit Queens on Nov. 1, the City Department of Transportation announced on Thursday.
The amount of increase will depend upon meter type (commercial vs. passenger) and by the location within the city. For the vast majority of the borough, rates will increase to $1.25 per hour from $1 per hour. Parts of South Queens—Woodhaven and South Richmond Hill—have been designated Zone 2 by DOT; rates in those communities are set to jump to $1.50 per hour from $1 an hour. And Downtown Flushing and Jamaica will be among the parking Zone 1 neighborhoods come Nov. 1, in which rates will double to $2 per hour from $1 per hour.
The new rates will be installed on a rolling basis: Queens (Nov. 1); Brooklyn (Sept. 1); Manhattan (Oct. 1); Bronx and Staten Island (Dec. 3).
According to DOT officials, in Manhattan’s core (parts of lower Manhattan and Midtown to 59th Street), commercial meters will increase by two dollars to $6, $7, and $8, from $4, $5, and $6 for the first, second, and third hour, and go up one dollar per hour elsewhere below 96th Street. Passenger parking meter rates in this core will increase to $4.50 per hour from $3.50 per hour, and to $4 per hour from $3.50 per hour elsewhere below 96th Street. From 96th to 110th streets rates will increase to $2.50 per hour from $1.50 per hour. A new, progressively priced second hour of passenger parking will be provided for $7.50 in the Manhattan core and $6.75 in the rest of Manhattan below 96th Street, to offer a little extra time for those who need it while still promoting curb availability, the agency noted.
