COVID-19 Cost The City 8.5K Parking Spots, Report Says

NEW YORK CITY – COVID-19 has taken a toll on the city's already notorious street parking – more than 8,500 spots have been swallowed up by outdoor seating set-ups for restaurants trying to survive the pandemic, the New York Post reported.

The newspaper said city data showed the spots were given up so that eateries, unable to welcome diners inside, could set up tables in the street. More than 11,000 restaurants took advantage of the space, a move Mayor Bill de Blasio has said will be made permanent.

The Post reported that the 8,550 spots came from a total of around 3 million in the city.

Parking in the city is a constant gripe for motorists who expect to circle streets looking for space and to park significant distances from their destinations.

City Hall spokesperson Mitch Schwartz told the Post the Open Restaurants program, which allowed the street dining, saved around 100,000 jobs.

“It claimed less than half of one percent of the city’s parking spots," he told the paper.

"Bargains like that are hard to find in this town.”

Bill Neidhardt, a spokesperson for de Blasio, used on an online poll from NY1 anchor Pat Kiernan to frame the parking spot shift as a way to help the restaurant industry.

The people have spoken: they love @NYCMayor's respectful annexation of parking lots to save 100k restaurant jobs pic.twitter.com/DdHBEoQxTy
— Bill Neidhardt (@BNeidhardt) May 25, 2021

Read the New York Post's full report.