No Country For Old Cars: Free Parking Vanishes From Cooper Square

Today is a sad day. Not because the long weekend has ended, which rightfully warrants a tear or two, but because the parking party is over in the East Village.

While the city was barbecuing, watching fireworks, and lamenting Trump’s America, the Department of Transportation did us dirty and took away the free parking on Cooper Square.

Before No Parking signs went up in recent days, there was a stretch of free all-day parking on the west side of Cooper Square between East 4th and 6th Streets. Now, the signs restrict parking from 8am to 6pm every day except Sunday. With the exception of a couple of motorcycles that apparently didn’t get the message, the freeloaders have all cleared out.

The Department of Transportation’s site still says there are no parking regulations, but you’d probably have a hard time talking yourself out of a ticket with the new signs posted.