Albany, NY Parking Rules: EV Charging (2026)

City Code § 359-22A(11) applies to a space "designated as provided in this subsection for the exclusive purpose of charging an electric vehicle at an electric vehicle charging station." The word exclusive sets the tone. In Albany, a designated charging space is not general parking that happens to have a charger beside it.

A vehicle has to satisfy both halves of the rule to use the space. It must be an electric vehicle, and it must be "connected to such charging station." A gasoline vehicle fails the first half however briefly it is there. An electric vehicle that is not connected fails the second half, subject to the grace period.

That grace period is written into the same sentence. An electric vehicle "disconnected from the electric vehicle charging station for no more than 45 continuous minutes while stopped, standing, or parked in such designated space shall not be in violation of this subsection." The word continuous matters, because the 45 minutes is measured as an unbroken stretch of disconnected time. The allowance belongs to electric vehicles only, so it gives no cover to any other vehicle in the space. The phrase "stopped, standing, or parked" shows that the subsection reaches stopping and standing in the space as well as parking there.

The rule attaches only to spaces that have been properly designated. A designated space must carry conspicuous, permanently installed signs or markings that identify it as EV-charging-only and that note any day or time limits. If a space has day or time limits, the sign or marking at that space is where they are stated.

For enforcement purposes, the Albany subsection also supplies its own definitions of "electric vehicle," "electric vehicle charging station," and "disconnected." Those definitions decide which vehicles qualify and when the 45 continuous minutes begin to count.