Parking

For an investigation published this weekend, the New York Times calculated that governments in New York state give away at least $4.06 billion in corporate subsidies every year. In New York City, the agency that oversees much of this largesse is the Economic Development Corporation. And when it comes to shaping city fabric, NYC EDC has a predilection for showering its subsidies on a specific type of project: the kind with tons of parking.

Parking reform for Downtown Brooklyn -- which would take the mild but worthwhile step of cutting the district's mandatory parking minimums in half -- went before a City Council subcommittee on Monday. The fate of the proposal now comes down to council members Tish James and Steve Levin, who represent the area. The two representatives are talking tough and trying to get DCP to do more -- but what they want has little to do with parking policy.

After more than three years of work, the Department of City Planning has released its proposed changes to the rules governing off-street parking in much of Manhattan. Some parking experts are calling it a necessary step toward continued reform, while neighborhood watchdogs fear that DCP's proposed changes will ultimately lead to more driving in the city’s congested center.

While some coastal areas in Staten Island cope with the devastation of Sandy, the city is moving ahead with a public meeting tonight about a parking-saturated mega-development for the north end of the island. According to one developer, the project will include "every possible bit of parking" that can be built there. At the same time, the developers will contribute nothing to improve surface transit to the site, even though it is located in the most transit-accessible part of Staten Island and the MTA is planning a new busway that will directly serve the area.

Less than a week after Queens Community Board 3 signed off on DOT's PARK Smart pilot for Jackson Heights, New York's neighborhood-level parking policy changes were given some national context on Wednesday at the National Association of City Transportation Officials' "Designing Cities" conference.

On Thursday, Queens Community Board 3 voted to support a more sophisticated way to price on-street parking on commercial streets [PDF], supporting DOT's proposal to bring the PARK Smart program to Jackson Heights.

The New York City Department of City Planning announced yesterday that the City Planning Commission has approved a measure to reduce Downtown Brooklyn's onerous parking minimums. But the commission, chaired by Amanda Burden, appears to have wasted an opportunity to improve on the timid reforms.

It's hard to say what's most off-putting about the campaign by Peter Vallone Jr. and Michael DenDekker to grant free parking to motorcyclists -- including themselves -- in New York City. There is of course the brazen and unapologetic conflict of interest in introducing legislation for one's personal benefit.

Are small businesses that cater to cyclists less desirable than those who look to draw motorists? That seems to be the position of Queens Community Board 1.