About this Location

Facility Overview

The First Street Garage, located at 35 First Street in the vibrant East Cambridge neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a premier multi-level municipal parking structure owned by the City of Cambridge. Designed to serve both local residents and regional visitors, this expansive covered garage provides hundreds of marked vehicle bays distributed across multiple structured levels. The facility safely accommodates standard passenger vehicles, compact sedans, crossovers, and standard SUVs. Drivers operating large pickup trucks or full-size passenger vans should be mindful of the facility\'s maximum clearance height of 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 meters). High-roof commercial vans and oversized cargo vehicles exceeding this clearance cannot enter and should seek open-air surface alternatives in the greater Boston-Cambridge metro area.

Prime Location & Nearby Attractions

Conveniently anchored near the historic Lechmere Canal, the First Street Garage places drivers within steps of some of East Cambridge\'s and Downtown Boston\'s finest shopping, dining, and cultural attractions. Notable points of interest within easy walking distance include:

CambridgeSide Shopping Center: Situated just a short 3-minute stroll away (0.2 miles), offering multi-level retail, modern tech stores, and diverse dining options.
Museum of Science & Charles River Dam: Located approximately an 8- to 10-minute walk (0.4 miles) across the Monsignor O\'Brien Highway, making it a stress-free parking base for family outings and planetarium visits.
Kendall Square & MIT Innovation District: Reachable in roughly 12 to 15 minutes on foot, catering to biotechnology professionals, researchers, and campus visitors.
TD Garden: Located across the Charles River roughly 15 to 20 minutes away by foot or a short Green Line hop, providing a strategic parking workaround for Celtics games, Bruins hockey, and major arena concerts.
East Cambridge Dining Corridor: Placed mere blocks from neighborhood favorites along Cambridge Street and First Street, featuring classic Portuguese restaurants, craft breweries, and trendy bistros.

Access, Navigation & Transit Connectivity

Ingress and egress are straightforward via First Street, with dedicated entrance and exit lanes managed by automated barrier arms and ticketing machines. The garage offers immediate connectivity to major regional thoroughfares, including Monsignor O\'Brien Highway (Route 28), Edwin H. Land Boulevard, Memorial Drive, and Interstate 93 via Leverett Circle. For multi-modal commuters, the newly reconstructed Lechmere Station on the MBTA Green Line is only a 5-minute walk away, providing direct subway links to North Station, Downtown Crossing, Back Bay, and Boston\'s Longwood Medical Area. Major MBTA bus lines also service Cambridge Street and Lechmere, making the garage an exceptional park-and-ride staging area.

Facility Amenities & Key Features

Multi-story, weather-protected covered parking shielding vehicles from rain, ice, and winter snow.
Electric Vehicle (EV) Level 2 charging stations integrated for green commuters.
Dedicated accessible (ADA) spaces positioned conveniently close to elevator bays and pedestrian stairwells.
Passenger elevator access and illuminated stair towers servicing all parking tiers.
Pay-on-foot automated kiosks accepting credit cards, debit cards, and contactless payment options.
Bright, energy-efficient interior LED illumination, safety mirrors, and 24/7 security monitoring.

Ideal For

Shoppers and cinema guests visiting the CambridgeSide retail complex.
Families and educational groups spending the day at the Boston Museum of Science.
Eventgoers heading to TD Garden seeking to avoid downtown Boston traffic jams and elevated arena parking fees.
Daily business travelers and biotech contractors working in East Cambridge and Kendall Square.
Local neighborhood residents seeking secure, off-street vehicle storage during city snow emergencies.

Visitor & Driver Tips

During winter weather advisories and declared Cambridge snow emergencies, this facility often experiences elevated demand as neighborhood on-street parking bans take effect; plan to arrive early to secure an interior space. If you are using the garage to attend a sold-out concert or playoff sports matchup at TD Garden, allow an extra 10 to 15 minutes post-event to navigate peak departure queues onto Route 28 and Storrow Drive. Keep your parking ticket safe inside your vehicle and pay at the ground-level lobby pay stations prior to returning to your car to ensure a smooth, tap-and-go exit at the gate.