Taxi & FHV Relief Stands in NYC: Rules, Counts, Breaks

In short: A relief stand is a curb space where a taxi or FHV driver may park and leave the car for up to one hour to eat, rest or use a bathroom. NYC DOT lists 110 relief stands with 547 spaces. 69 allow FHVs, 41 are for taxis only, and Staten Island has none. Always follow the sign: it says which vehicles may park and, on some stands, which hours. If you break a posted limit, TLC can fine you $50.

Relief stand or taxi stand?

The two are easy to confuse because both say "TAXI" on the sign. NYC DOT puts it plainly: "Relief stands are not taxi stands – taxi stands require drivers to stay in their cars while waiting to pick up passengers" (NYC DOT).

The taxi stand rules are covered in full in taxi stand rules. The rest of this guide is about relief stands.

The rules that apply

Two things decide what you can do at a relief stand: the TLC rule and the sign.

• TLC rule §80-19(d)(7): "A Driver may take any vacant position at a relief stand however Drivers must comply with all posted restrictions including the type(s) of Vehicles that may occupy a position at the relief stand and the maximum time a Vehicle may park at the relief stand." The fine is $50, and you don't have to appear in person (TLC Chapter 80).
• The sign: every relief stand sign in DOT's data says 1 HOUR LIMIT. 27 signs also carry extra text, usually hours such as "7 AM-7 PM All days". Outside those hours, the relief stand rule does not apply.
• Other signs on the block still count. DOT's general rule is that where several signs cover one spot, the more restrictive one applies (NYC DOT Parking Regulations).

A TLC summons is separate from any parking ticket the police may write to the vehicle's owner, so one mistake can cost you twice.

How many stands, and where

Manhattan has 69 stands and 351 spaces, about two thirds of all spaces. Queens has 26 stands (142 spaces), mostly in Long Island City, Sunnyside and Astoria. The Bronx has 12 (47 spaces) and Brooklyn only 3 (7 spaces) — far fewer than its size would suggest. FHV drivers have the fewest choices in Manhattan relative to the total: just under half of Manhattan's stands (34 of 69) are signed for FHVs, while in Queens 23 of 26 are.

These counts move. A Manhattan Community Board 1 resolution from December 2025, citing DOT, gave 113 stands (70 taxi and FHV, 43 taxi only) (MCB1 resolution). The October 2026 data has 110. Use the relief stand finder for the current list, street by street.

Where drivers work vs where stands are

The map below shades taxi zones by pickups (yellow, green and app trips, September 2025 to August 2026). The outlined zones are among the busiest non-airport pickup zones and have no relief stand at all in DOT's data: Midtown Center, Times Sq/Theatre District, Upper East Side South and West Chelsea/Hudson Yards.

The other four of those eight busy zones do have stands: East Village (6 stands), East Chelsea (5), Union Square (3) and Upper East Side North (2). The relief stand gap by borough page compares stands with demand in more detail.

Bathroom breaks: what drivers say and what exists

TLC's own driver survey, published June 12, 2026, found that "bathroom access and pickup/drop-off areas have the greatest impact on drivers' workdays" (TLC driver survey). DOT describes relief stands as the place to "take care of personal needs" (Open Data description). Relief stands are only curb space, though: there is no restroom at the stand itself. Plan your break around a stand near a place you know you can use.

At airports, the rule is different. Where a terminal has a taxi holding area, TLC rule §80-19(e)(2) says you must park in the holding area before going on relief time and rejoin at the end of the feed line when you return. You may not bring passengers into a holding area ($50).

The 2026 commercial-meter parking pilot

The City Council passed Int. 1000-A on December 18, 2025. It became Local Law 24 of 2026 without the Mayor's signature: the Council's record lists the enactment date as January 17, 2026, and the bill was returned unsigned on January 20 (Council record, text of the law). It tells DOT to run a one-year pilot that lets for-hire vehicles park in commercial parking meter areas, with two limits:

• you must pay for the parking time first (meter, app or other method DOT chooses), and
• you may not stay more than 3 hours unless a sign says otherwise.

The law took effect immediately and says the pilot must start no later than 180 days later (that is, by about mid-July 2026). DOT must report on it within a year after the pilot starts. The bill as first introduced would have allowed FHVs to park or stand at commercial meters "for up to thirty minutes, four times per day", as Manhattan Community Board 1 described it when it opposed the bill (MCB1 resolution). That version is not what passed. The same resolution reports DOT telling the Council it was working with TLC to add relief stand locations. We could not confirm the pilot's start date or the streets it covers. Look for a DOT rule or announcement before you park at a commercial meter.

Missing signs and mistakes in the data

DOT says its relief stand map "is updated monthly and may not be reflective of all current posted regulations. Always follow posted signs and meter regulations. To report a missing or damaged sign, please contact NYC 311" (NYC DOT). If you got a ticket at a stand whose sign was missing, take photos of the whole block straight away. They may matter at a hearing. Our taxi stand and cruising summonses page shows how often stand rules are charged.

Quick checklist

FHV drivers who want a short answer should read can Uber and Lyft drivers use relief stands. Taxi drivers asking about stands should read can I leave my cab at a taxi stand. See also the relief stand definition, relief stand statistics and the places hub.