Members of Manhattan's Community Board 7 yet again put car storage first when they shot down a modest request by residents of an Upper West Side apartment building to turn free parking into a loading zone for safer drop-offs and to reduce double-parking.
Dwellers of the Astor condominium at W. 75th and Broadway asked the civic panel to back their push to repurpose just two spots at their entrance into a loading zone, to provide a safe space on the chaotic and busy corner.
But the unelected board members were too concerned about losing more free car storage, and once more put the needs of the neighborhood's minority of car owners above safety concerns raised by several residents who testified at the board's monthly meeting last week.
"We’re already losing tons of parking spaces as it is for various reasons, and the more loading zones we have, the less parking we have," said board member Josh Cohen at the Jan. 6 meeting. "I think that we’re establishing a bad precedent here that we give this building a loading zone, and then the next building comes, and then the next building."
The building has some 100 units and sits across the street from two grocery stores, Citarella and Fairway, which draw heavy traffic and double-parking, which creates dangerous conditions for residents, according to the head of the building's condo association.
"Someone’s trying to shoot in between and you have kids getting out of cars, it creates a real safety issue," Vijay Brihmadesam told CB 7.
Another resident agreed, saying the change would benefit the many kids getting on and off school buses on the block.
"I have two young children, there are many children that actually get on and off of the school bus right in front of our door," said Kate Overby. "I think adding this additional zone would allow the bus to be able to pull over a little bit, allow children to get on and off the bus safe and sound without any concern for their safety."
However, one person living on the block said the building should move its proposed zone to the building's service entrance on W. 76th Street, and blamed the congestion on the increase in delivery apps like DoorDash, claiming that allowing a loading zone would encourage more such drop-offs.
"During the last five years, our block has become home to a lot of people who are constantly parking their cars or delivery scooters on our block. That’s why we’re seeing double-parking there," said Daniel Arnall. "Adding this loading zone is just going to add a number of delivery drivers who kind of park out there."
CB7's Transportation Committee co-chair Ken Coughlin pointed out that the board voted just two months ago [PDF] to urge city officials to prioritize safety at the curb. That resolution from November was, however, watered down after the group cut a clause that explicitly said safety should come before parking.
"You’ve heard tonight a lot of people – pretty much everybody – talk about safety as a consideration," Coughlin said. "If we’re going to unclog our streets, we have to move away from our rigid adherence to just one use of the curb [parking], and we have to do things like this."
The supposedly progressive, transit-rich and otherwise-rich area has a history of obsessing over parking, despite being one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the country.
When the Department of Transportation tried to implement a modest "Smart Curbs" parking reform program to meter more spaces last year, then-Mayor Eric Adams's top deputy Randy Mastro halted the effort at the behest of local Council Member Gale Brewer, who channeled complaints from a handful of vocal drivers.
The board has in the past also sought to make delivery workers' lives harder – despite being a hotspot for food drop-offs – by opposing a resolution calling on restaurant owners to allow them to use the bathroom, and rejecting a charging station and rest hub for delivery workers.
Coughlin and other board members in favor of the loading zone noted that fewer than 30 percent of households on the Upper West Side have access to a car, according to the U.S. Census. Manhattanites who do have an automobile are also nearly twice as wealthy as their neighbors that don't. Moreover, there are also some 12,000 free car storage spot in the neighborhood alone.
But fellow members weren't convinced, with one sarcastically saying the city should just get rid of all car infrastructure (and inadvertently threatening us with a good time).
"I would love to have free space in front of my building, but I would suggest we just do it for every single building on West End Avenue, every single building on Riverside Drive, every single building," said Jay Adolf. "Take away all the driving lanes, that’s what Ken would like!"
Another board member claimed that the car-ownership stats were not the whole picture, since workers drive into the neighborhood from far and wide — citing her own doorman who crosses two state lines on his commute.
"I have a doorman who drives in every day from Pennsylvania – for some reason – and the only way he can do it is actually by driving in," said Natasha Kazmi.
Board member Cohen said the building wasn't special just because it had vulnerable populations.
"The reality is every building has children, every building has senior citizens, every building has people that live there that have cars that drop off their stuff," Cohen said. "This building is not more special or less special than any other building, they’re all the same."
The resolution actually received a plurality of votes 18 votes in favor, 17 against and five abstentions. But it failed because it needed to secure a majority over both the opponents and those that abstained.
