On Parking in NYC…

Have you ever tried to find a parking spot in NYC? If you are in a rush, forget it! You need a lot of patience and it could take a long time before you find something.

I don’t have the patience. I want to get into NYC, park the car and do what I need to do.

Since we have our HJMT city office at 575 Madison Avenue at 57th Street in NYC, I drive into NYC at least two days a week. People ask me why I don’t take the LIRR?

I love to drive. I’m comfortable in my white Mercedes E350 4matic. I can listen to my music as loud as I want. I can talk on my phone and laugh and no one “shshshshush’s” me! And it gives me an opportunity to think about the business and about things going on in my life.

Sometimes the drive into and out of the city is a breeze. And then other times, it’s a total nightmare! Yesterday, it took me nearly 3 hours to get into NYC. But I stay relaxed and I try not to let the traffic bother me.

What does bother me are the parking garages in NYC! There seems to be a handful of them with the same name, like: Central, Champion, Icon and today I saw one called Two Brothers!

All of these garages seem to have an early bird special. If you get into NYC before 10 am, then you can park for a discounted rate all day. Since it took me nearly 3 hours, I missed the early bird special and had to pay the full $45 rate for the day!

After work, I had an EO Dine Around at one of the member’s homes on 20 and 7th Avenue. I decided to move the car and I parked the car in a garage around the corner from the address. When I got to the building, the doorman informed me that the host left six months ago and was no longer living there.

“You’ve got to be kidding?” I said.

I called the host. “Where do you live?” Apparently, he sent around another email after the initial one I received. But, I never received his email. He moved 10 blocks away.

Not wanting to walk in my heels, I decided to get the car out of the garage. Maybe the attendant won’t charge me, I thought. NO SUCH LUCK! The car was parked for less than five minutes and he charged me $10! I paid him and was in my car looking for a spot by 31st and 7th Avenue. The host’s new place was right by Penn Station. I found a garage across the street. The sign said the cost would be $22 for the evening.

“Be back before 10 pm,” the attendant told me.

I went to the dine around. When it was over, I walked across the street to pay the attendant and be on my way.

“$35 bucks,” the attendant said. “You went to that Ranger’s game right?”

“What?” I said. “I was across the street and the sign says $22. That’s all I’m paying.”

“Oh, Okay….”

I paid him and drove back to the Island.

Today, I drove in again. Although it was a work day, I played “hooky” with my daughter and went to the Lucky Magazine Shopping event at the Metropolitan Pavilion in NYC. We parked the car on 17th Street. I missed the early bird special again, except this time it wasn’t because of the traffic. I had a flat tire and couldn’t leave until I had it fixed!

Actually, I was thinking about parking on the street, but on every block the signs said, for commercial use only….

The city doesn’t encourage cars. I totally understand. But these garages are making out like bandits. They are not responsible for anything that happens to the cars. They are not responsible for lost items. And they are not responsible for any dings or scratches that may occur.

One time, when I owned a Jaguar, the Jaguar on the hood of my car was stolen from the garage!

These garages don’t feel bad about collecting their $45 fee for the day. And they don’t feel bad about taking the $10 for five minutes. They don’t even feel back about taking the $2 tip. And, the funny part, when you have a question or a complaint, all of a sudden they don’t understand what you’re talking about…