Twenty-Eight Dollars An Hour

According to NYCgarages.com, the most expensive hour of parking in New York is $28:

At Fifth Ave. and 60th St. near Central Park, a lot with 17 parking spots run by Imperial 785 Garage Corp. charges $28 for up to an hour.

Yet, only a few blocks east, on 60th St. between Second and Third Aves., the 60th Storage Corp. charges $7 for a half hour.

The Imperial lot has been dubbed the city’s most expensive parking lot by www.NYCgarages.com, a Web site launched earlier this year that helps drivers compare prices.

“It’s a total ripoff,” Joanne Torrellas, 30, said after being charged $28 for the half hour she left her car in the lot to bring her child to a doctor. “It’s so expensive,” the upper East Side mom complained.

Electrician Rafael Burgos, 33, said he drove down from the Bronx and parked in the Imperial lot because he needed to find a spot close to a customer at 59th St. and Madison Ave. “I’ve got to park somewhere, and this is the only place around here,” he said. “I didn’t see the price until I was already inside. It’s ridiculous. I’m going to have to pay half what I earn on this job on parking.”

When The News stopped by the Imperial lot, an attendant tried to stop a photographer from taking pictures of the price list, posted halfway down the one-way entrance ramp.

“I know it’s very expensive, but you pay for the location,” said the attendant, who declined to give his name.

The founder of NYCgarages.com, Benjamin Sann, said some parking companies go to great lengths to conceal their actual prices, even though they are required by law to display their rates.

“They try to intimidate me, stop me from taking down the prices,” Sann said. “I’ve had attendants close the gates so I couldn’t see the boards. I had one threaten me with a baseball bat. They try to hide the prices so you can’t see them until you drive in, when it’s very difficult to turn around and leave.”