10 Benefits of Eliminating Parking Mandates

1. Lowers Rents

New York City’s parking minimums are inflating rents by as much as 17%. In Minneapolis, rents fell by more than $200 a month in new studios after parking minimums were relaxed.

2. Encourages Active and Public Transportation Funding

Parking mandates prioritize the needs and interests of the ~25% of New Yorkers who use cars to commute, thereby encouraging car-centric infrastructure. If these mandates were lifted, the City could better prioritize funding active and public transportation.

3. Addresses the Climate Crisis 

Transportation is the second-leading cause of climate change-causing emissions in New York City. Parking minimums incentivize people to own and drive cars, leading to increased traffic congestion and the harmful emissions that worsen health outcomes for all New Yorkers and disproportionately impact low income communities.

4. Helps New York Stay Cool in Heat Waves

As heat waves increase in duration and intensity, it will also be critical to build green spaces that cool down neighborhoods, rather than parking lots that dramatically increase the heat island effect.

5. Lifts Burdensome Regulations & Red Tape Holding New York City Back

The current zoning code complexity burdens everyone responsible for building more housing. Civil servants and builders alike spend endless hours navigating a maze of zoning code, instead of focusing on and funding new housing and commercial projects. 

6. Catches New York Up to the Rest of the Country

San Francisco, Minneapolis, Buffalo, and dozens of other cities big and small have ended parking minimums and brought rents down without reducing parking in the neighborhoods that need it. Eliminating parking minimums is already working in several cities in our state and would bring the city up to par with the smartest cities in the country.

7. Makes New York City Friendlier to Business & Stimulates Economic Growth

Mandatory parking spots are expensive for businesses to build. Especially with changing commuting patterns, particularly in central commercial districts, New York needs to preserve flexibility in its retail spaces to accommodate new and changing businesses — especially small, local businesses.

8. Improves Equity

Black and brown New Yorkers living in the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn disproportionately suffer from asthma and other vehicle-exhaust-related illnesses, while wealthy, white Manhattanites benefit from lower emissions and safer streets because parking mandates have already been lifted in most of their borough. Similarly, streets in neighborhoods of color are often the least safe, and reducing our city’s reliance on cars helps reverse that trend.

9. Creates a More Livable City

Parking minimums impede the walkability of our neighborhoods and harm street life by making it more likely that developers will build street level parking garages rather than retail. Additionally, surface parking lots push buildings apart and create neighborhoods where residents have to drive because walking is impossible or unpleasant. 

10. Makes Our City More Resilient

Parking lots contribute to flash flood events, and reducing the amount of asphalt we build makes our city more resilient. Instead of building parking lots, we can build green space that absorbs rain and flood waters.