Like Mr. Levine, Mr. Yaruss’s committee was concerned that congestion pricing would bring an influx of drivers looking for parking places. In May, it passed a resolution calling for the city to “discontinue” free parking on the street.

But the committee recently softened its resolution, instead calling on the city to “assess and analyze” its street parking policy.

Still, some drivers said the committee’s approach reflected a broader campaign to malign people who use cars.

“I see a very clear anti-car agenda,” said Tag Gross, who parks on the street on the Upper West Side and mostly uses the car on weekends. He bicycles to work most days, he said.

“The people who live here are not causing the traffic issue,” he said. “We’re not driving our cars to Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s to shop.’’

“ I’ll park my car in a garage,’’ he added. “There are people who were living in this neighborhood when it was crack infested and who use their cars for work and are now being forced out because they can’t afford another expense like a $500-a-month garage.”

But Ms. Thompson of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy said many cities that had adopted policies to discourage the use of cars had found that “people move to public transportation.’’