A few years back Streetsblog ran a post with the headline “Another Year, Another David Greenfield Parking Bill." And it's true! Except for 2014, Greenfield has introduced or sponsored legislation intended to somehow lessen the hassle of parking every year since 2010.
While he's a vocal proponent of Vision Zero, it still seems Greenfield has never heard a parking-related gripe too random or inconsequential to merit legislation. Now he wants the city to let drivers park for free at metered spots on days when alternate side parking is suspended. The reason: It's too hard to walk to muni-meters when it snows.
The Daily News reports:
Greenfield said his bill would end a longstanding hassle for motorists.
“You’ve got to climb a mountain of snow to get to a Muni-Meter,” he said. “If we get piles that are 3, 4, 5 feet high, you can’t even get to a meter.”
“I’ve gotten tons of complaints about this,” he said.
Greenfield dismissed the potential revenue hit (“The city’s always worrying about making a buck,” he told the Daily News), and apparently isn't concerned with the impact zero parking turnover might have on businesses.
As silly as this bill is, it's hard to say where it ranks among Greenfield's other ill-conceived parking bills. Here's a recap.
- 2010: Greenfield sponsors bill to shorten no-parking zones near fire hydrants from 30 to 20 feet. Introduces bill to have fire hydrant zones marked with red paint. FDNY objects to both bills.
- 2011: Proposes that the city paint broken fire hydrants green and allow motorists to park in front of them. Introduces legislation to “give special parking privileges to pregnant women who get notes from their doctors.”
- 2011: Leads City Council crusade to end the practice of putting stickers on cars left sitting in the path of street sweepers. Said Greenfield: “I mean, what’s next? We’re going to start slashing people’s tires when they don’t park on the correct side?”
- 2012: Introduces bill to limit when the city can tow vehicles belonging to motorists with unpaid parking fines. “Greenfield said the bill comes after numerous complaints from residents who accused the city of unfairly targeting them to make cash,” reported DNAinfo.
- 2013: Greenfield authors bill to deactivate muni-meters when they run out of paper for receipts. Asked about his obsession with parking legislation, he said: “I get people who criticize me on Twitter and say, ‘Why are you all about the cars?’ Because I drive a car. And my constituents drive cars.”
Of course, none of these bills would actually solve the root problem of parking aggravation, which is that most parking is free.
As for Greenfield's latest attempt at governance by pet peeve, the Daily News says that, according to a DSNY spokesperson, the department "would most likely 'oppose the bill since the department needs access to the curbs in order to effectively clear snow.'”
