Self Park Garages

its not that they are using your car... simply check the odo when you drop it off and then again the next time you use it. They are more likely sleeping in the car. Especially if its a nice front seat, maybe even heated seats.

What area?

move out of manhattan

There really is nothing you can do other than tip your guys and hope. Dont leave things in your car that you are worried about or care about greatly. The only other option i can think of is buy at one york or over on bond and use one of the new automated garages. However beware when the machines take over.

Pier 40 on the West Side.

Most garages I have used had a self-park option. However, it usually cost about 50% more.

i suppose you could put a camera in the car

or check the mileage

Bueller?

Lincoln center. Especially during the summer, it's relatively cheap.

"Bit tired of wondering if my garage uses my car on weekdays when they know i won't be around to use it."

I posted this on another thread, but it bears repeating.

Have a Lojack installed on your car, and WRITE DOWN the mileage each time you leave it in a garage.

The garage at the Holiday Inn on West 57th Street has been a popular spot for years for CBS staffers to park (only one block away from the Broadcast Center), but there had been stories over the past year from desk assistants in particular (among the lowest-paid employees who would be most likely to notice) that their gas tanks seemed to be a bit low every time they picked up their cars.

One morning around 9:00 AM, a colleague of mine (copyeditor at CBS Radio, who works from 5:00 AM to 1:00 PM) got a call from the NYPD -- her car had just been involved in an accident -- in HARLEM.

It seems the guys running the garage at the Holiday Inn on West 57th were running a little side business -- in particular with the cars of the CBS employees, whom they knew wouldn't need their cars for at least a good 8 hours or so -- renting customers' cars out to illegals who otherwise couldn't rent from *regular* car rental places.

nycmatt - good point...how does this protect one (is there legal recourse?) instead of just confirming one's fears about illegal usage of the car?

any place that sells spots? anyone out there willing to sell their spot?

oops forgot to mention but yes west 50's in manhaatten, but interested in general anywhere in manhatten, since am considering moving.

Pier 40 on the West Side
Lincoln center

anybody know some others? i think i remember seeing some mega parking complex by the battery tunnel once.

around 23-34 street under the FDR. they have an open air now on 1st and 38th (under $200).

amusingly... I was walking through Tompkins Square Park, and I saw the guy who "borrowed" Ferris Bueler's friend's dad's car. The guy who either plans hispanics or italians... with the big nose.

I laughed for an hour.

The maritime on on the river at 23rd is self park.

"It seems the guys running the garage at the Holiday Inn on West 57th were running a little side business -- in particular with the cars of the CBS employees, whom they knew wouldn't need their cars for at least a good 8 hours or so -- renting customers' cars out to illegals who otherwise couldn't rent from *regular* car rental places."

That's great. I thought the story was going to be that they were siphoning the gas.

Snuffles, there's a garage on 42nd between 9th and 10th that does self-parking. As with any self-parking place, be sure to park in unfavored areas with other "locals" so as not to recieve dings from the B&T crowd.

FWIW, I actually worry less about my car when I give it to an attendant about dings. I have both done the self-parking thing and the attendant thing. Here's how it works.

First, make sure you're the nicest guy around to the parking attendants. Learn their names, shake their hands, ask about their families, etc. Be a man of the peoples. If they're late with your car, tell them no worries. Don't bark orders at them, don't talk down to them. Every time I see some a-hole talking down to them, I'm thinking "good idea, being an a-hold to the guy who's about to park your S-class".

Second, give them a large tip every time. It need not be an excessively large tip, you don't want to look like you're buying them. Just enough to stand out, to back your image of someone who is appreciative of their work. To me, that means $5. Since the most frequently I'd ever take the car out would be once a week, it works out to $20 a month. A minor tax on the overall monthly fee.

Third, have a nice-looking car that you keep in tip-top shape. It doesn't have to be an expensive car, just something that stands out a little. Keep it clean. No one will "take care" of your $50K Lexus, looks too much like a Toyota. No one will "take care" of your hasn't-been-washed-in-3-months Porsche, looks like crap. They will, however, "take care" of your PT Cruiser, or your VW Beetle, or even my dream car that I gotta work on my wife to allow me to buy, a restored El Camino.

Frick, I just had a great idea. I'll probably be moving this year, and I'll probably change neighborhoods (if I wanted to stay with the same girl, I'd get married). The biggest thing I'm worried about: giving up my beloved, so-cheap-you'll-want-to-kill-me car parking. But now I have a plan. I'll keep the spot, and I'll buy my dream car El Camino and store it there.

And for the record, I know they're great cars worthy of their price and reputation, but I'm not sure that a BMW counts as a nice car that deserves extra attention. It's the Honda Civic of the upper middle class, too boring after the 27th one in your garage for it to register with the parking attendants as something special. You'll get more "park it in the special place so it doesn't get dinged" respect with the PT Cruiser, seriously.

Silly but simple: keep your eyes open when you walk around the neighborhood: they are pretty easy to spot. Just look for a smaller residential building with a curb cut and closed garage door. Look for the managing agent or ring the super. Last time I tried this I ended up getting about 6 calls over an 8 month period as spots became open. Right now I'm paying about $315 (inc tax) a month for my own private spot (which has a LOT of other benefits than just not having your car driven around while you're not there) in the prime Village.