Today unlike other days I arrived at Queens College from the gate at Melbourne Avenue & 150th Street around 4 pm. I have morning classes, so I usually get to the campus early in the morning. I was one of the lucky ones to win the parking lottery in July and have a decal for field 14. Anyone who drives to Queens College,  knows what one must go through before they find a safe parking spot around Queens College. So I consider myself really lucky to own a decal, but am I really that lucky?

Apparently Queens College issued more decals than there were parking spots available, at least that’s the case in field 14 where I park. That’s perfectly fine from a business and economics point of view, since the theory of probability says; the chances of all those who purchased a decal driving to the campus all at once is near to zero, if not zero! But the question is how much more decals should they issue before it gets chaotic in the parking lots?

Today I went through a lot of trouble before I was able to find a parking spot at field 14. It was a challenge, a lot of driving around was involved, a lot of time and gas was wasted. To be honest, it wasn’t a good feeling and for many reasons it wasn’t. The obvious one is that I didn’t pay so much money and yet have to challenge for a parking spot as if I had no decal at all and drive around the parking  lot for about 30 minutes, and avoid many potential accidents since every other student is doing them same thing. More importantly when one purchases the decal, he/she automatically assumes that there is enough parking spot so when it comes to time budgeting, one leaves very little time for looking for parking on the campus, therefore gets to class late as I got to class late today, actually right on time, but later than I had planned. The point is that I arrived at the gate at 3:50 pm and got out of my car at 4:20 pm, that’s 30 minutes. Believe it or not, no one who purchases a decal leaves 30 minutes in their time budgeting for parking.

I don’t want to nag, and the point is not to complain, I’m just expressing my opinion in regards to this issue. I can understand that this is New York City, and not Wyoming, so of course no matter what Parking is always an issue. I can absolutely feel the extremely high demand for the decals. Not to mention that the security guards around the fields will guide you to a different field where it’s less busy. In any event having a parking decal is a privilege and it’s something to be happy about. Queens College campus is very safe, and I feel safe leaving my car with my belongings in the car without being worried about possible thefts. So with all the issues mentioned above, I must say that I’m happy that I own a decal I hope I can still get a decal for my senior year, and in the mean time I’ll put more time for finding a parking than I previously did.