The Parking Advisors team has provided parking investment advisory services across the New York City area for existing assets and new developments. We’ve consulted on projects in each of the city’s five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island.
New York City's Leading Parking Consultants
Parking Advisors is a national parking consulting firm that has done extensive work in New York City and the surrounding submarkets.
Parking Advisors in New York City
New York City Parking Market Fundamentals
New York City’s parking fundamentals are impacted by several factors. Our parking analyses include an in-depth analysis of the following drivers:
Office Demand
New York City’s parking demand varies by borough and asset type but is typically dependent on a submarket’s commercial density. It is common for city garages, especially in Manhattan, to solely offer valet parking to maximize garage supply during peak occupancy periods. Although office occupancy has decreased since 2020, frequent tourism and business travel have caused hotel owners to seek agreements with nearby garages for vehicle storage arrangements, maintaining high occupancy in many garages. Meanwhile, to entice tenants to come back to the office, many landlords are offering increased rent abatement periods for both new and renewal leases. From 2019 to 2024, average new lease rent abatement periods have increased from approximately 10 to 14 months, while average renewal abatement periods have increased from 10 to 12 months. Free parking is often incorporated in these deals, adding complexity to the process of balancing revenue generation and occupancy in garages.
New York City’s Public Transportation Network & Green Transition
The New York City Public Transportation Network is one of the largest and busiest in the world. The transit network comprises 36 rail lines and 325 bus routes that connect all five boroughs, allowing city-dwellers and visitors to access major destinations with ease. Continued growth of vehicle traffic and congestion on the city’s streets has also contributed to the consistent development of the transit system by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, with major transit development projects currently underway, including the Interborough Express and Penn Station Access. These projects are expected to decrease travel time between boroughs and encourage utilization of public transit methods. These developments, along with legislative initiatives such as PlaNYC, which is working to require private garages to make electric vehicle charging more readily available, are causing unique demand challenges in today’s market.
Local Law 126
After a parking garage collapse in lower Manhattan in April 2023, Local Law 126 was enacted to ensure the structural integrity of parking structures in the city. The deadline for initial inspection in Manhattan was December 31, 2023, with other boroughs’ deadlines planned in 2027. As of June 20, 2024, only 43% of garages had filed an inspection report. Of the completed inspections, 21% were deemed “unsafe”. This could have a significant impact on the city’s parking supply, as it may be cost prohibitive to make the necessary repairs for some facilities to be deemed safe. While it is unknown how LL126 will impact the supply of parking, it is reasonable to assume that some parking facilities will be permanently decommissioned and likely redeveloped, leading to parker displacement.
Parking Mandates for New Developments
Since 1961, New York City has had general parking requirements for new developments based on a project’s location and size, ensuring sufficient supply for any increase in residents. However, due to growing awareness of the affordability crisis in New York City, in 2023, the mayor proposed removing all parking mandates from new developments within the city to decrease development costs. This would dramatically slow the growth of parking supply, while demand continues to grow.
Submarkets & Demand Drivers
Parking Advisors analyzes supply and demand fundamentals to understand the potential risks and upside opportunities for each project we work on. Some of New York City’s primary parking submarkets are detailed below:
Manhattan
Manhattan is the central business district of New York City. There are approximately 420 million rentable square feet of office space within the borough, accounting for approximately 80% of the city’s office space. Manhattan accommodates the parking demand of these office employees, as well as residents and visitors to the borough, with over 900 off-street parking facilities offering nearly 140,000 parking spaces, in addition to its nearly 190,000 on-street parking spaces. Based on Parking Advisors’ research, parking demand is stable in Manhattan due to the general diversity of office tenancy, and the number of employees and visitors that live outside borough.
Congestion Tax
To improve traffic flow and decrease the estimated 700,000 vehicles that enter the CBD every weekday, the city considered implementing taxes on the ingress of personal vehicles into the lower half of Manhattan. The tax was delayed in 2024, but will go into effect in January 2025. The City expects a reduction of up to 100,000 vehicles entering the CBD each day and will likely have a significant impact on parking demand below 60th Street.
Brooklyn
Situated to the south and east of Manhattan, the borough of Brooklyn is highly concentrated with residential assets. It is the most populus of the city’s boroughs with approximately 2.7 million residents. The market includes about 175 off-street parking facilities with close to 35,000 parking spaces, as well as nearly 750,000 on-street parking spaces. Brooklyn has seen continued redevelopment of underutilized land with large mixed-use projects such as 1730 Bedford Avenue, bringing additional parking supply and demand to the area.
Queens
Located to the east of Manhattan, Queens comprises a wide variety of real estate assets. The LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport are both situated within the borough, generating parking demand from rental car agencies and travelers. Queens is also home to some of the city’s major entertainment venues, including Citi Field and Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, which host the New York Mets and the U.S. Open tennis tournament, respectively. Queens has nearly 150 off-street parking facilities with about 50,000 parking spaces, as well as the highest concentration of on-street parking of any borough, with approximately 1.2 million parking spaces.
The Bronx
The Bronx is located northwest of Manhattan and contains many residential properties. It is home to Co-op City, the largest cooperatively owned housing complex in the U.S., as well as attractions such as Yankee Stadium and the Bronx Zoo. The Bronx has high residential parking demand in part due to having the third highest population density in the city behind Manhattan and Brooklyn. The borough’s parking supply consists of about 130 off-street parking facilities with over 55,000 parking spaces, and about 420,000 on-street parking spaces.
Staten Island
Staten Island is located to the southwest of Manhattan, separated by the waterway known as The Narrows. Staten Island is the only one of the city’s boroughs that is not connected by the New York City Subway; however, commuters can utilize the Staten Island Ferry, which runs between Staten Island and Manhattan, free of charge. Parking supply throughout Staten Island is primarily located on-street, with close to 450,000 spaces.
Parking Tax
The parking tax rate in New York City is dependent on the location of the parking asset. In the four boroughs outside of Manhattan, the current New York City parking tax is 10.375%. There is an additional 8% tax on parking assets in Manhattan, totaling 18.375%.
