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Getting to work on time can be difficult, especially if you live in the city. Between traffic and parking, you could end up cutting it close every day unless you know some tips and tricks to make the process easier.

1. Time Yourself and Get Prepared the Night Before

Set a timer to help you get out of the house faster and to help ensure that you get out the door when you need to. Think about the things you need to do in the morning to get ready for work and allocate the time you need to complete everything. This can take a few days to get right, but it can be well worth it.

Similarly, you should think of the things that you can pre-prepare the night before to cut down on what you need to do in the morning. For instance, you can prepare your breakfast or lunch the night before and have it ready to go when you wake up. You can also lay out the clothes you want to wear and not have to worry about going through your closet in the morning.

2. Don’t Hit That Snooze Button

We’ve all been there when the alarm seems to go off way too soon and you’ll do anything to milk every second of extra sleep that you can get. However, this can set you back in the morning and leave you scrambling to get to work on time.

If you’re waking up feeling too tired in the morning, consider trying to set an early bedtime if possible. Limit screentime before bed and give yourself a chance to relax and fall asleep so that you can feel well-rested in the morning.

3. Rent a Parking Spot

If you work in the city and are tired of wasting time in the morning searching for parking, you can consider booking a parking spot in advance. In New York City alone, drivers waste an average of 107 hours every year looking for parking, and this definitely can have an impact on your workweek.

Services like Icon Parking Systems enable you to book a spot in many city parking garages, ensuring that you can drive in and park without any hassle.

Saving Time so That You Can Be on Time

These three tips may seem like small changes, but they can have huge effects when it comes to getting to work on time. Consider making these changes to your schedule so that you can stop wasting time and start being on time every day.

If you are thinking about getting a new vehicle, you may be considering an electric one. However, electric vehicles aren’t as well understood by most consumers as standard cars are. To help you understand why an electric vehicle can be a good choice, here is what you need to know about the benefits.

1. They Are Better for the Environment

This may seem obvious, but it cannot be overstated. Electric vehicles are much better for the environment than other varieties. Fully electric vehicles are even better than hybrids. This is because they lack an exhaust system and thus have no emissions. Because of this, they don’t release fumes into the air like gas-powered cars. As more people switch to electric vehicles, fewer greenhouse gases are emitted through driving.

2. They Require Less Maintenance

Electric vehicles also require much less maintenance than other vehicles. This is because they don’t require the same maintenance that gas engines do. For instance, they don’t need oil, and they often require fewer brake replacements throughout their lives.

The only real difficulty that they will face is in regards to finding an EV charging station. While most cities and suburbs have installed charging stations at selected places for drivers of electric vehicles, more rural drivers may have difficulty finding them. However, installing a charging port at your home negates this difficulty.

3. Electric Car Lanes

In some places, HOV — high occupancy vehicle — lanes are used by carpooling drivers, but they are often also available for use by electric vehicles, even if you’re not carpooling. This can help you get around quicker and beat the rush when you’re going to a destination.

For instance, nearly 63% of over 6,000 drivers who were surveyed said that they avoided driving to places like airports, shopping sites, sports centers, and other destinations due to difficulty parking. However, when you can take advantage of the carpool lanes on highways, you can leave everyone else in the dust and get to a destination before everyone else. It’s a win-win!

The Vehicles of the Future

As more and more people opt to invest in electric cars, they are quickly becoming the cars of the future. If you are looking for a new vehicle, consider how an electric car can benefit you (and the environment). You can even install a charging port at your home to ensure that your car is always juiced up and ready to go.

 Parking problems, like congestion or a lack of accessible parking, have the potential to stir up a great deal of tension. Tenants, employees, customers, and tourists vie for available parking in New York City on a day-to-day basis.

Do your employees a great kindness by saving them the hassle of finding reliable parking in Manhattan. Here are just a few perks of providing corporate parking for employees.

Promote Good Habits

The average U.S. driver will spend as many as 17 hours annually looking for a parking spot. Those 17 hours amount to $345 in lost time, emissions, and fuel costs. If you task employees with finding a spot day-in and day-out, you will likely feel the brunt of that cost — with multiple employees — over time.

That is where employee parking plans come in. One of the very best perks of employee parking plans is availability. Employees will always have a place to park. That means that you and your staff members will receive fewer calls from employees on their way into work about driving around trying to find a spot. Available parking — or lack thereof — will not affect employees’ ability to come into work on time and it certainly won’t be a regular excuse day after day.

Plus, if an employee is going to be very late, take a half-day, or call in sick, you will have plenty of parking available for the person covering for them as well.

Keep Employees Happy

While it’s true that employee parking plans benefit you by encouraging employees to find parking quickly and be on time, corporate parking also keeps your workers happy.

No one likes circling around, again and again, to see if a parking spot has opened up, nor do they like parking long distances away from where they need to be because that was the only available spot. Both scenarios can put your employees in a bad mood before they even walk through the door. Corporate parking solves this problem and increases job satisfaction.

Use Parking as an Extra Incentive

Many employees feel extra motivated by winning awards like ‘Employee of the Month’ and getting little perks from that title, like a parking spot especially close to the building. Designate a coveted spot, and let employees know that it is up for grabs based on their work performance.

Keep employees happy, on time, and extra motivated by investing in corporate parking or employee parking plans.

 Of all major U.S. cities, New York City has the highest population density. Every square mile packs more than 27,000 people. As you can imagine, that means finding a parking spot in the Big Apple can be a daunting task, even on a good day.

At Icon Parking, their goal is to change that. Learn what sets Icon Parking apart from the competition.

Parking That Celebrates With You

June is Pride Month, and Icon Parking is celebrating that with daily, nightly, and even weekend discounts. In addition to celebrating special occasions, Icon Parking routinely offers monthly discounts and discounts for select personnel, like New York City’s first responders.

Keep an eye on their website for special event- or group-specific parking rates.

Convenient, Hassle-Free Parking in Top Locations

When parking in NYC, some things are non-negotiable. Parking needs to be accessible, convenient, and easy to reserve and pay for. Icon Parking checks all of these boxes, allowing customers to browse available parking ahead of time. Simply visit their website, browse parking by location, and book your spot for your desired time. You can also make parking reservations by downloading their application from the App Store or Google Play.

Even better, Icon Parking has available spots in some of the top locations in NYC. That means, instead of parking in a spot that isn’t even that close to where you ultimately want to be, you will be able to pick and choose from parking spots located right there in NYC’s most coveted locations.

Corporate Options Available

Too often, public parking focuses on individual parking spaces, not on group or corporate parking. Icon Parking is the exception. Icon Parking works with some of the most lucrative businesses around the world, including Google, Amazon, Bloomberg, NBC, Morgan Stanley, Whole Foods, BMW, Hyatt, and more, to provide convenient and reliable parking to their employees. Their company offers short-term as well as long-term parking for corporate offices.

Of course, being an internationally recognized company is not a requirement! Talk to a representative at Icon Parking about your business and your business needs today. They can accommodate you whether you have a small, medium, or large business.

Without some planning, parking in New York City can be a disaster. Contact Icon Parking about your needs, or log onto the mobile app and find convenient parking in top locations all over the city.

In 2020, most offices closed or reduced the number of employees working from the office. Most people worked from home; however, employers are starting to call their employees to work from the office again this year. Of course, returning to the office means the return of the nightmare of finding parking near your workplace.

Parking Spaces Are Very Limited

Pre-covid, American drivers spent about 17 hours per year driving around to find parking spots. The wasted time, fuel, and emissions add up quickly. It was estimated that those 17 hours lose drivers $345 each year. That is just for a normal gas car. If you own an EV or hybrid car and need a charge point for your car while at work, the parking options are even more limited. Most of the time, parking in the street is not an option, especially in New York City, where space is limited. You may have to move your car a couple of times a day to allow for street cleaning and avoid a fine. Alternatively, you can park your car in a parking garage. There are many parking garages available, but the services they provide differ.

Choose a Parking Garage

Working in an office forces you to use a parking space every day, so you need to make sure that the parking garage you choose has the necessary facilities, for example, an EV charging station. The place should also be serious about preventing the spread of COVID-19 infections. Once you start coming to the office again, the last thing you need is to get infected with COVID-19 through contact with contaminated surfaces at a parking garage. To ensure your safety while at work, choose a reputable garage company, like Icon Parking.

Icon Parking Is a Parking Solution

There are more than 60 sites in New York City where you can find an Icon Parking facility. We are equipped to handle electric and hybrid vehicles with safe and clean charging stations. Our new contact-less app helps you book a spot, so it’s available when you need it and limits the need to touch anything other than your car. But if you need to touch a surface, you can be sure it is sanitized by our mask-wearing crew that cleans and disinfects surfaces inside the garage many times each day. So, book your monthly spot with our contact-less app to ensure your parking spot is ready for when you come back to the office.

Electric vehicles (EVs) have, over the years, become the norm in New York City. With over 16,500 EVs in the city as of 2017, this state boasts the largest number of EVs in all of America. This doesn’t come as a surprise, seeing as NYC has the highest population density of any major city in the United States.

With more than 27,000 people per square mile, you are bound to find more electric vehicles there than anywhere else. If you are an aspiring electric vehicle owner or already have one, read on to find out the essential things you should know about owning an electric vehicle in NYC.

You Get Rewarded for Charging Your Car

For the NYC municipality to better manage its electrical grid, SmartCharge Rewards are awarded to electric vehicle drivers each month. These rewards are given to drivers who charge their vehicles during off-peak hours. Additionally, those participating in this program are given a connectable car device. This device can help you check:

• Energy consumption
• Journey information
• Battery health
• Driving efficiency
• Admission into EV drivers communities

What About Charging?

So, suppose I buy an EV, where do I charge it? If you reside in a stand-alone home, you can easily install a charging station in your garage. Otherwise, you can find EV charging stations at any of the following:

• Apartment buildings that have charging ports in their parking bays
• Thousands of charging stations spread throughout the city,
• Public parking garages.

Please note that to charge your car at the above-mentioned EV charging stations, you will probably be required to pay a small fee.

Electric Vehicle Maintenance

Electric vehicles are pretty easy to maintain. As you might have guessed from their name, electric cars do not need gas. All you need is to charge it fully, and you can go for an average of about 181 miles, depending on the make and model. Additionally, you will not need to change the oil as frequently as you would for a regular car.

There are many other interesting facts about owning an electric vehicle in NYC. For instance, it’s now possible to share electric vehicles. Also, you can get incentives for purchasing and owning one. It’s truly an exciting time for electric cars in New York City.

Public transit is ubiquitous in New York City. Even for those who have cars, buses and subways make it easy and affordable to get around. That said, these mass transportation options do have their drawbacks.

Although COVID-19 vaccinations are now widely available, many New Yorkers would rather be safe than sorry. As a result, you may want to forgo the use of public transit — like so many others have during the pandemic — in favor of using your own vehicle more frequently.

Of course, this option can come with its challenges, as well. Although you’ll limit your exposure to other people, finding guaranteed parking in such a densely populated city is no easy feat. In fact, New York City drivers spend around 107 hours per year just looking for parking spots! You deserve to have access to a safe monthly parking option that allows you to use your car as needed.

Monthly Parking Solutions Ease Stress and Promote Safety

Data does show that public transit ridership has decreased significantly during the pandemic. This has allowed those who continue to use mass transportation to spread out, rather than stay tightly packed into crowded cars or buses. What’s more, these transit systems often contain high-quality ventilation systems, which can keep users safe. Since mask mandates are still in effect on mass transit in New York State until further notice, some may feel perfectly safe taking the bus or subway during this time.

However, we’ve learned during the past year that every person has a different comfort level when it comes to health and safety decisions. Any choice to leave your home and go out into the world comes with an inherent risk, no matter how small. Because you probably won’t ever know the vaccination status of strangers with whom you share a subway car or how clean the station really is, you may feel uncomfortable with the idea of taking mass transit for now.

Undoubtedly, relying on your own vehicle will decrease your potential contact with others outside your household. Owning a car can provide you with the freedom to come and go as you please, often with lower risk levels than those who depend on public transportation. But if you’re using your vehicle for work, for running errands, or for day trips with your family this summer, you’ll want to be sure you have a monthly parking solution that can eliminate frustration and promote safety guidelines.

At Icon Parking, we have monthly parking garage availability across the city. We even run specials for many of our monthly parking solutions, allowing you to access convenient parking for an affordable price. And with our Parksafe option, you’ll benefit from ongoing features to keep you safe. We offer contactless reservations and payments, natural sanitizing stations, and staff members who follow all health and safety recommendations to protect your well-being.

Whether you’re immunocompromised or you simply want to err on the side of caution, our monthly parking solutions can make your life easier and safer during the ongoing pandemic. For more information on monthly parking in NYC, please contact us today.

The COVID-19 pandemic can make traveling safely a challenge. This is especially true in New York City where the population density is that of around 27,000 people per square mile.

So, when you have to travel, how do you travel safely? It starts with where you park.

Requiring Masks

One way our monthly parking garages at Icon Parking are making parking in NYC that much safer is by requiring face masks on all parking members and guests. Not only is mask-wearing mandated in the state of New York but it’s also one of the best ways to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 to other people. Each and every one of our employees is also required to wear a mask to ensure the safety of everyone in our lots.

Improved Sanitation

Monthly parking garages have many high-touch surfaces. That’s why Icon Parking has made it our duty to reduce the number of surfaces our customers are required to touch to enter and exit our parking garages. Use our contactless app to book a spot and check in to your parking garage. You can use the same app to check out so you don’t need to touch anything but the inside of your car.

We also offer sanitized parking by using heavy-duty cleaning products throughout our monthly parking garages. Even with contactless parking, parking lots and garages tend to have a lot of surfaces that you may need to touch. Our team properly sanitizes each of these surfaces routinely throughout the day to help mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19. We also make sure to sanitize electric vehicle chargers as well.

If you’re looking for sanitized parking in New York City, Icon Parking Systems has you covered. Book a monthly parking spot with us today using our contactless app!

Did you know that over two-fifths of New York state’s population is gathered in New York City? The city is packed, which is one reason why it can be difficult for NYC residents to feel as if they are socially distancing properly in the city, especially when they need to get out and about for daily errands or special, unavoidable appointments.

While public transportation has long been a mainstay of NYC’s culture, in a post-COVID environment it may be better for people to look elsewhere for transportation, even if that means paying for monthly parking fees. Let’s explore the benefits of owning a car in New York City.

1. COVID-19 Awareness

As previously mentioned, right now we all need to be more aware of COVID-19. A lot of New Yorkers are used to taking taxis or riding the subway in order to get around. But methods like these put you in close proximity to strangers, and you can’t be sure about their COVID-19 statuses or how careful they have been regarding the virus. You may not even be able to practice proper social distancing around them. But you can do that when driving your own vehicle.

2. Freedom

It doesn’t matter if you’re calling a traditional cab, using a rideshare app, or taking advantage of the metro system. If you’re using public transportation to get around, you are at the mercy of other drivers or transportation operators and their schedules. When you own your own car, you can get out whenever you need to. While a lot of us aren’t leaving our residences as much as we once did, a car can ensure your long-term freedom and can make it easier for you to get out in order to execute important tasks like doctor’s appointments and grocery shopping.

3. Storage

It’s simply easier for you to get out and about, gathering what you need in as few trips as possible (with as little exposure to others as possible) when you own your own car. Rather than taking three separate trips to different stores, you can pack your car with items you need. This cuts down on time wasted, and while the pandemic is still a factor, ensures that you’re a lot safer in the long term.

If you have a vehicle in New York City and you need a safe place to park your car, we’ve got you covered. Contact Icon Parking today to learn more about our contactless parking options.

Parking your car in Manhattan can be challenging due to the limited street parking available. Parking challenges are a major reason that drivers opt out of attending events outside of their homes. In fact, more than 60% of 6,000 surveyed American drivers listed parking difficulties as one of the reasons they avoiding driving to sports centers, airports, shopping centers, and leisure centers. Providing corporate parking for your employees can help make it easier for them to get to and from work safely.

Safe parking is vital for the following reasons:

Alternate Side Parking Can be Risky

Parking a vehicle on the street typically means that it has to be moved every few days, due to New York City’s alternate side parking regulations. This can be both inconvenient and dangerous, leading to drivers circling the block at odd hours trying to find a parking spot. Leaving their vehicle in one location for too long guarantees them a ticket, so often New Yorkers can be seen getting up early in an effort to move their vehicle before heading out to work, or moving their car late at night after getting home. This is not the safest time to be out on the streets in an urban area.

Street Parking Is Less Secure

Street parking is also less secure than parking in a garage. The spots are left unattended, and it’s easier for a car to be broken into or tampered with. This can be inconvenient or even dangerous. Drivers may find that their car has been damaged, items have been stolen, or their cars have been vandalized during the night. A monthly parking garage is a far safer option, providing drivers with off-street parking.

Searching for a Spot Wastes Time

Circling the block near a driver’s work or home in an effort to find a spot wastes time, is frustrating, and can lead to distracted driving. Drivers would much rather park their car in a safe location and then spend time with their family and friends. Circling the block for an hour or more in order to find a safe parking spot is exhausting and can lead to these individuals opting to take public transit options instead.

Corporate parking spaces are an excellent benefit to offer employees, providing them with a safe place to put their vehicles while they work onsite. Safe corporate parking lots provide drivers with a secure location to park their cars so that they can work without worrying about the car being damaged or towed. If you’re interested in investing in a corporate parking plan using one of our quality monthly parking garages, contact Icon Parking today.