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

Hell’s Kitchen Parking Plan Continues to Confound

1:42 PM EST on November 6, 2007

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

Friday’s Headlines: A Congestion Alert Day

Like everyone else, we covered congestion pricing. Plus other news.

December 1, 2023

Adams Says He’ll Ban Parking Near 1,000 Intersections Every Year To Make Corners Safer

The city will daylight 1,000 intersections a year. A Brooklyn corner where a boy was killed in a crash is still waiting for the safety upgrades.

December 1, 2023

Komanoff: IMHO, TMRB is A-OK

Here’s what’s to like about the Traffic Mobility Review Board's central business district toll recommendations. It's a lot!

December 1, 2023

DOT’s New Emissions Rule is a Big Deal, Even if It Doesn’t Punish States for Polluting

No states will face penalties for building needless toxic road projects — but they also won't be able to hide those impacts from the public.

December 1, 2023

Cops Search for Hit-and-Run Driver Who Killed 3-Year-Old in Queens

The merciless motorist killed 3-year-old Quintas Chen in downtown Flushing, Queens on Wednesday night.

November 30, 2023
See all posts