Commuting

Finally: A Spot to Talk About Parking

Climate change, Iranian nukes, the declining dollar, a $100 barrel of oil... Sure, all of that stuff is important but not as important as parking or New York City's lack thereof.

By Jason Varone

11:36 AM EDT on October 31, 2007

Climate change, Iranian nukes, the declining dollar, a $100 barrel of oil… Sure, all of that stuff is important but not as important as parking or New York City’s lack thereof.

New York City’s venerable neighborhood associations and civic groups will be ecstatic to hear that the Department of Transportation is convening a series of public workshops “to address residents’ concerns about the possible impact of congestion pricing on neighborhood parking.”

According to a DOT press release, “The workshops will be the basis for DOT to potentially develop plans to address any ‘park and ride’ activity if such impacts result from congestion pricing in areas near subway stations and transit hubs outside the charging zone.” Streetsblog’s recommendation to DOT: Make sure you book a big room and prepare to stay late.

The PlaNYC Parking Strategies Study will include two workshops beginning next month in five new study neighborhoods, and one in two other neighborhoods-the Yankee Stadium area of the Bronx and in the Brooklyn Heights/Boerum Hill/Fort Greene sections of Brooklyn-where parking studies were already initiated. The new study will look at parking management strategies that can best meet the diverse parking needs of residents, businesses, shops, and religious and non-profit organizations.
The first round of workshops, to be held in late November in the five new study neighborhoods, will look at parking conditions and needs and begin a dialogue on potential parking management strategies. The second set of workshops, to be held in January in all seven areas, will discuss possible parking management strategies such as instituting residential parking permit programs, expanding the use of Muni-Meters, making changes to on-street parking fees, and using technology to track parking usage in the study neighborhoods and other border-zone neighborhoods.
The five neighborhoods are: the Upper East Side, Manhattan; the Atlantic/4th/Flatbush Avenues Area, Brooklyn; Central Harlem, Manhattan; Forest Hills, Queens; and Long Island City, Queens. Meetings also will be held in January in the Yankee Stadium area of the Bronx and in the Brooklyn Heights/Boerum Hill/Fort Greene sections of Brooklyn, where previous studies were initiated.
NEIGHBORHOOD PARKING WORKSHOP SCHEDULE – FIRST ROUND:

Upper East Side, Manhattan: Nov. 19

Atlantic/4th/Flatbush Avenues Area, Brooklyn: Nov. 27

Central Harlem, Manhattan: Nov. 28

Forest Hills, Queens: Nov. 29

Long Island City, Queens: Nov. TBD

Jason Varone

Jason Varone battles the streets everyday during a 9 mile commute on his bicycle from downtown Brooklyn to the Upper East Side. In addition to his efforts on Streetsblog, he is an artist making work related to the environment and technology. Examples of his work can be found at www.varonearts.org.

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