Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Air Quality

Hell’s Kitchen Parking Plan Continues to Confound

691252669_bc0c2bb74a.jpg

The Daily News has picked up on the city's court battle to bring some 20,000 new parking spaces to the far West Side, a plan that -- along with at least one or two other notorious examples -- is directly at odds with the Bloomberg administration's ambitious environmental agenda.

Local residents are suing to block Bloomberg's rezoning plan for thearea because of the extra parking, and environmental and transportationgroups also call it bad policy.

"It sounds to me like thedevelopment people are not talking to the environmental people at CityHall," said Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan), who representsthe area. "It would encourage more people to drive cars into thecentral business district. If you build off-street parking, they willcome."

The Bloomberg administration says it hopes most workers and residents will rely on mass transit to get there.

"Therecent rezoning of Hudson Yards, which was done concurrently with theapproval of the expansion of the No. 7 subway, will promote theemergence of a new public-transportation-oriented residential andcommercial community with considerable affordable housing and publicgreen space," said mayoral spokesman John Gallagher.

In aspeech to the Manhattan Institute last week, Bloomberg said extendingthe 7 train to Hudson yards will make it "the next Gold Coast of thiscity."

Gottfried, though, said more parking will create morecongestion. "If increased development is going to be accompanied byincreased automobile traffic, it will strangle itself," he said.

Stateenvironmental regulators had not objected to the rezoning until criticscomplained in August. Now state Environmental Conservation CommissionerPete Grannis has ordered the city to study how parking limits affectair pollution.

Related on Streetsblog:

Photo: jay d/Flickr

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Monday’s Headlines: ‘We Speak English in America’ Edition

Read that talk bubble. That's really what the cop said to a man under arrest. Plus other news from a busy weekend.

May 12, 2025

Cyclist Launches Class Action Suit For Bogus NYPD Red Light Tickets

The NYPD keeps ignoring a law that allows cyclists to pass through a red light on the "Walk" sign. Now, someone is making a federal case about it.

May 12, 2025

Decision 2025: Mayoral Hopefuls Discuss the Death of Outdoor Dining

We asked, will you commit to expanding both Open Streets and outdoor dining in the roadway. And here's what they said...

Car Harms Monday: ‘Car Brain’ is the Demon Spawn of Car Dependency

Our policies, our budgets and our cultural narratives assume everyone can and does drive. That's car brain.

May 12, 2025

Zohran Mamdani Wants to Take a Free Bus … Straight to Gracie Mansion

So let's talk about the candidate's fare-free bus policy.

May 12, 2025
See all posts