Lift Parking Mandates

Parking mandates are an outdated, complex, and costly policy that requires new buildings to dedicate valuable space to storing private vehicles.

We build a lot of car parking in New York City – and that comes with severe costs. Rents are higher, business growth is smaller, streets are unsafe, and the environment is worse because of our prioritization of parking spots above all else.

 Parking mandates are zoning rules that require a certain amount of off-street parking to be built in new apartment buildings or offices. As unbelievable as it seems, as a law, in most of New York City, the government requires developers to include parking spaces, regardless of whether New Yorkers actually want or need them. They have been part of the city’s Zoning Code for decades and haven’t been reformed citywide since John F. Kennedy was president.

Parking mandates:

• Raise the cost of housing by reducing the number of units that each building can rent or sell

• Cater to and encourage car ownership by making it easier to own and use a car in New York

• Create a less livable and walkable city by increasing the number of cars on the road

• May replace street-level retail opportunities, negatively impacting streetscape, safety, and economic growth

• Mandate the construction of parking lots on land that could be used for more housing, parks, or other valuable public uses

Parking mandates actually have been lifted in most of Manhattan. In 1982, the air quality in New York City was so bad that it was out of compliance with the Clean Air Act. Acknowledging that parking minimums are part of the problem — they encourage driving and create dangerous levels of air pollution — the City removed all parking requirements in Manhattan south of 110th Street on the west side and south of 96th Street on the east side. But clean air should be prioritized in every district of the city - not just high-earning areas of Manhattan. This is a health and equity issue; Black adults have the highest rates of asthma in the country. Regardless of race, asthma is highest among American families living below the poverty line.

Removing parking mandates is not a radical, far-fetched, or unprecedented proposal. Dozens of cities across the country including Buffalo, San Francisco, and Minneapolis have already lifted mandates — not to mention that 67% of New Yorkers already support it. Crucially, it will not lead to a future where no more parking is created. In 2017, Buffalo — where there is far less public transit infrastructure than in New York — removed parking mandates. In the following years, 47% of large new buildings in Buffalo built less parking than used to be required — but not no parking. And 53% of buildings continued to build as much or more parking as previously required. Lifting parking mandates is feasible, tested, and represents the right path for New York City to take.