NYC Parking Meters Can Soon Be Paid by App

NEW YORK, NY — The time has finally come for the city's loathed fleet of manual parking meters to join those old green mail drops, telephone booths and newsstands as romantic collector's items from a bygone era.

NYC transportation officials announced Monday that within the next few weeks, New Yorkers will be able to fill any Muni-Meter between 14th and 59th streets in Manhattan via the ParkNYC app, now available for download on all app stores.

And by summer 2017, "every metered parking space in every borough" will be payable by app, the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) announced.

The coolest part: By the time every meter is hooked up to the system, you'll no longer have to sprint back to your car when your meter's up. Instead, you'll get a notification from the ParkNYC app, which will prompt you to refill the meter with your phone.

The lamest part: In order to get started, you'll have to load your account with a minimum payment of $25.

Here's how it works, according to the DOT:

1. Download the ParkNYC app or go to ParkNYC.org to register an account.
2. Enter personal information including phone number and email; create a password.
3. Provide a license plate number for the account and set alert/notification preferences.
4. Load your wallet. (A ParkNYC wallet works like EZPass, and can be reloaded in increments as low as $25. Once registered, drivers may use the mobile app, internet or a toll-free number to pay for parking.)
5. Park. After parking, enter the unique zone number for block and length of time. After confirmation, the driver is set!
6. Extend. If time is running out and maximum time has not already been reached, parking time can be extended without returning to the car.

In order to get every Muni-Meter on the grid over the next six months or so, city workers will be fastening blue "zone" signs beneath existing parking signs and slapping matching "zone" decals onto parking meters, so that each side of each city block will be labeled with a distinctive six-digit code. (As demonstrated in the video below.)

“Parking in New York City can be a challenge, but ParkNYC will make it just a bit easier,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday. “With no paper receipt and the ability to quickly get on your way, this new pay-by-cell tool fulfills our commitment — made in this year’s State of the City address — that we would help save New Yorkers the most precious of resources: their time.”

Good news, too, for those who prefer the old-school method, or are perhaps averse to sharing their personal info and location data with lord-knows-who: Muni Meters will continue to accept coins and credit/debit cards from customers who don’t wish to use ParkNYC.

Existing parking rates and time limits will stay the same under the new system, according to the DOT.

Lead image courtesy of NYC DOT