What should you know about winter parking in New York? During winter months, it can be more difficult to park on the street in the State of New York. Why? Once New York residents knows that snow is coming, they tend to leave their vehicle parked in one spot on city streets that are not snow emergency routes then take mass transit to get around each day.

This is often useful as parking regulation (including the feeding of the parking meters) are often suspended to encourage less motorist on the city’s road so the Sanation Department can properly clean the streets.

The problem with parking overnight or extended periods of time during winter is the fact that snow and ice will build up on the glass and the rest of the vehicle making it a chore to clean off especially if you have to quickly clear that side of the street so the snow plows can pass through to do their job of cleaning the streets.

Below are some tips to make parking less of a hassle and how to keep your vehicle’s glass staying ice free and getting easy access to your vehicle when covered with lots of snow.

Snow Emergency Routes
Always avoid parking on any of the 250 snow emergency routes in New York. If snows hits the New York area by surprise, you may find your vehicle with a ticket for failing to move it in time and have to waste precious time to find alternate parking at other areas. In some cases, the vehicle will be towed to an impound lot so you will also be responsible for towing and storage fees.

Use Plastic or Vinyl.
For outdoor parking, you may want to run down to you local home improvement store (ex. Home Depot) and order a heavy piece of clear plastic. These are the plastic that contractors use to cover things that they want to protect from dust or wet paint. When you are ready to park your vehicle, throw the clear plastic over the front glass. Since it is clear, it does not cover your vehicle inspection or parking stickers which law enforcement needs to see when on patrol.

The plastic, when on, will help ice from sticking to the glass of the vehicle once the snow starts to fall. To keep the plastic in place on the vehicle, open the doors (both driver and front passenger) and tuck the plastic inside then close the doors. The door will keep the plastic in place and the plastic in turn will keep ice off the glass.

Warnings.
* Do not put hot water on your windshield in an attempt to melt the ice if it was left uncovered. Doing so can crack your windshield (which carries a fine under section 375.22 of the vehicle code)  from the resulting rapid temperature change. Also, the water that runs off will settle and freeze on the ground and cause you or some to slip and fall.
* Do not set the car’s heater on high to act as a  defroster as this can also crack your windshield for the same reason. Start at a minimum and give the ice and glass time to react to the temperature change.
* Do not use a car cover that will obscure your plates if you park on the street. Doing so will have your license plates hidden and when you return to the vehicle, you may unfortunately find a two (2) traffic ticket placed in the crevice of the driver’s door. One will be for an improper display of your inspection sticker and the other for  improper display of your license plates. While the tickets are being issued, other tickers such as tinted window can be added as well.
* Flick your wipers on then shut off the power to the vehicle. This will prevent the wiper blade from getting buried under compact snow near the hood of the vehicle if you do not have any vinyl covering.
* Be sure to retract your antennae as you may not remember that it is extended while cleaning which can cause it to break.
* Clean a spot before you park. Parking on snow compresses it to ice. When more snow falls around your vehicle, your wheels will be covered reducing your traction and reduce your chances of getting out as the spinning wheels will dig into the ice causing them to sink.

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