It's the Bryan Lair show on WNYC. Good morning, everyone. We'll return to Middle East

coverage in about a half hour with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who will take my questions

and yours about U.S. policy and actions toward the current situation, including President

Biden now planning to go to Israel tomorrow. Also, every Tuesday on the show this year, as

many of you know, we're doing a climate story of the week. Today's is coming up in about

an hour when a meteorologist from Columbia University's climate school talks about

how the geography of our area affects our patterns of moisture as the planet warms. We're

all experiencing those patterns now, and some people are grousing about it, like how

it seems to rain every Friday and Saturday recently. But our first segment today is partly

climate-related, too. The alternate side of the street parking is an effect today in New

York City, and as they say on the newscasts, you must pay the meters. Well, the meters

have been hadn't just got more expensive. New rates took effect yesterday. They'll be

going up in the other boroughs, too, in Queens on Friday of next week, Brooklyn, November

9th, the Bronx, November 22nd, and Staten Island. Sometimes it's good to go last Staten

Islanders. I know you always do, November 28th. And by how much? Well, it's not one number.

For parking in what they call Manhattan's core business district, the first hour went

up from 450 to 550. If you stay there a second hour, that costs $9, up 20% to $9. It was

250. The rates are less depending on neighborhood. For example, what they call business districts

outside Manhattan will double from $2 to $4 for the first hour and from $2.50 to $5 for

the second. For a little historical nostalgic context, as recently as 2009, you just put

a quarter in a standalone meter for each 30 minutes. But how should we think about parking?

Why does New York or any city charge for it on public streets? The opposite question could

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