Dozens Of Harlem Blocks Getting New Car-Share Parking Spots: City

HARLEM, NY — Dozens of parking spots across Harlem are being handed over to private car-share companies as the city expands what it calls a successful experiment in short-term vehicle rentals.

The 29 parking spots were revealed in a series of letters sent by the Department of Transportation to Harlem's three community boards in October, and have been presented publicly to each board this fall.

First launched in 2018 as a pilot in 14 neighborhoods, the car-share program set aside 285 parking spots where companies like Zipcar and Enterprise Carshare placed vehicles that could be rented out for quick trips by members of the public. Hamilton Heights and East Harlem were among the neighborhoods tested out in the pilot, with 16 combined spots set aside for car-share.

The goal, the city said, was to reduce the need for private car ownership. A subsequent study by researchers at the University of California Berkeley found some successes: the thousands of drivers who used the car shares reduced their "vehicle miles traveled" by a combined 38.7 million miles each year, and 8 percent of participants said they sold a car or avoided buying one thanks to the quick-rental cars.

All told, the small pilot cut participants' greenhouse gas emissions by 12,000 metric tons each year, the study found. Based on those findings, the city announced last year that it would expand car-sharing to more neighborhoods.

Patch created a map to show the new car-share locations planned for Harlem:

The new spots were expected to go into effect this fall, DOT said in its October letters to Community Boards 9, 10 and 11. It was unclear which companies would control each spot, but DOT mentioned Zipcar, Getaround and TruqIt as among the firms that could apply for permits.

The neighborhoods being chosen for the car-share expansion were selected by the companies themselves, based on city guidelines requiring the parking spots to be non-metered, curbside lanes.

Besides the 29 new spots, DOT is also opting to renew many of the existing car-share locations that were part of the initial pilot, including eight spots in East Harlem.

In list form, here are the addresses of the 29 new Harlem locations chosen for the city's car-share program:

• 454 East 118th St.
• 156 East 117th St.
• 2001 Third Ave.
• 302 East 100th St.
• 1782 Madison Ave
• 1800 Third Ave.
• 190 East 104th St.
• 1974 Madison Ave.
• 349 East 109th St.
• 188 East 117th St.
• 452 East 117th St.
• 100 West 130th St.
• 2063 Frederick Douglass Blvd.
• 396 Manhattan Ave.
• 10 Mt. Morris Park West
• 659 Lenox Ave.
• 2378 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd.
• 40 St. Nicholas Ave.
• 1979 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd.
• 2470 Frederick Douglass Blvd.
• 2453 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd.
• 272 West 139th St.
• 82 West 120th St.
• 1638 Amsterdam Ave.
• 755 St. Nicholas Ave.
• 422 West 129th St.
• 3379 Broadway
• 400 West 129th St.
• 3359 Broadway

Have a Harlem news tip? Contact reporter Nick Garber at nick.garber@patch.com.