2 Parking Spaces Can House NYC Studio Apartment, New Exhibit Shows

NEW YORK CITY — A stereotypical New York City studio apartment isn't really shoebox-sized, but it can fit within two parking spaces.

An upcoming installation — "People Over Parking" — by Open Plans on Saturday will set up a mock studio apartment inside the confines of a pair of parking spaces.

The exhibit inside 66 Ainslie's parking garage at Ainslie and Keap streets in Williamsburg from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. will show how the city's "insane" parking mandate forces housing for cars over people, said Sara Lind, co-executive director at Open Plans.

"People don't understand how big a parking space is," said Sara Lind, co-executive director at Open Plans.

The parking space studio apartment is one of more than 300 experiences for Open House New York — a weekend-long festival that offers city dwellers often-rare looks into historic houses, rooftop gardens and other places that show how the city works.

Open Plans, which is separate from Open House New York, decided the festival was the perfect stage to push for the end of parking mandates in the city, Lind said.

For decades, the city has required developers to include parking spaces with new construction — a rule advocates such as Lind contend is outdated, especially when housing is in such desperately short supply.

And, after years of pushing to end parking mandates, advocates finally lined up a powerful ally: Mayor Eric Adams.

Last month, the mayor included the elimination of parking minimums in a spate of sweeping proposed zoning changes designed to spur more housing construction.

Lind said the "People Over Parking" installation will literally show how parking spaces have gobbled up space that could have been used for entire apartments.

"The whole reason we're able to use these parking spaces is because no one is using these spaces," she said.

The installation is done in partnership with Slate Property Group, a developer that shares concerns over parking mandates, advocates said.

Granted, a studio apartment in New York City can be so tiny there's an entire genre of TikTok videos devoted to them.

But parking spaces are only getting bigger as vehicles themselves grow larger, advocates noted.

The minimum size for a studio apartment in most of New York City is 300 square feet, much smaller than the 500 square feet than the two parking spaces that will house the mock studio apartment, they noted.

Still, the parking mandate's end isn't a done deal.

The rule change is in the middle of a public comment period before an extensive environmental review. When that ends, there's no guarantee the mandate will end.

"I am optimistic, but it's a long road ahead," Lind said.

"It's going to take political courage."

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