There are metered parking zones all over Manhattan. Many are commercial-only during the day, but revert to regular meters after a certain hour. There are copious bus lanes on many major thoroughfares, which are legal to park in outside of peak commuting hours. In some areas the street sweeper dance starts the evening before, leaving many spots unoccupied after drivers have absconded in search of parking spaces that won’t see a sweeper while the drivers are at work the next day.

I use all of these hacks and more to make it possible to zip around town in a personal car.