Is street parking free in NYC?

They certainly could... as long as a bill is written and it gets passed into law, just like any other piece of legislation proposed by City lawmakers.

The real question is whether it would be worthwhile to do so. People who live in some parts of Manhattan claim it's tough to find parking near their own homes because people who commute into the City (from places like Westchester, New Jersey and Connecticut) take up all the spots when they commute into the City for work.

For example, it's cheaper to park for free on a street near the George Washington Bridge and pay $5.50 for a round-trip subway ride downtown, than it is to drive downtown and pay north of $25/day to park in a paid lot or garage. Even people who live in Riverdale or Co-Op City -- within the Bronx, but not near any subway lines -- might prefer to hunt for parking near a subway station, rather than paying to drive and park downtown. This could become even more prevalent once the City's congestion pricing plan starts tolling every vehicle that ventures south of 60th Street.

So, residents are proposing a system where all on-street parking would require a residential permit. Obviously, one would need to reside in a particular neighbourhood to be eligible to receive a permit to park in that neighbourhood.

This is where the question as to "whether it would be worthwhile" comes into play. The City would need to create a new department or division to handle issuing these permits. They'd need to take inventory of parking capacity in different neighbourhoods to make sure they don't issue too many permits. They'd then need to establish a fair process for determining who gets a permit, if there are more applications than available spaces. What happens if someone moves, as New Yorkers tend to do? Will a permit-holder in one neighbourhood be able to exchange for a permit in a different neighbourhood?

Once permits are issued, there's the need to enforce the new law. The City would need to hire an entire group of people devoted to patrolling the "permit parking only" neighbourhoods around the clock. They would need to have tow truck drivers on-standby to promptly remove any violators. They would need to have a way to make sure permits are legitimate, because you KNOW people will attempt to put fake permits on their windows, hoping the enforcement officers won't really look closely enough to notice.

All of this -- designing/issuing permits, replacing curb side signage, hiring a permit department, hiring an enforcement department -- will cost a lot of money. And who will pay for it? Let's just say those permits won't be cheap and it could very well turn into a case of "be careful what you wish for."

Another potentially bad side effect: if only certain neighbourhoods (for example, those closer to the GWB, Washington Heights, Inwood) are converted to permit-only parking, will that really stop non-residents from "hogging" all the curbside parking? Or will this just transfer the problem to other neighborhoods where the parking is still free?