After two months of discussion at Community Board 11 meetings, the NYPD is cracking down on illegal parking of commercial vehicles on residential streets in Bensonhurst.
Community Board 11 Chairperson Bill Guarinello and District Manager Elias-Pavia told boardmembers last week that police towed four illegally parked trucks from residential streets during Thanksgiving week, and another four the following week.
The crackdown follows a board resolution last month, calling for New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly to direct the department to increase enforcement against trucks who parked overnight on neighborhood’ streets.
“It spoils the neighborhood,” Guarinello said.
Department of Transportation regulations state that commercial vehicles cannot park on residential streets between the hours of 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. A violation of this rule may result in a $65 ticket for the vehicle owner – but for commercial truckers, the penalty is small enough to be ignored.
“It’s not the price of doing business,” Guarinello said. He noted that enforcement actions will continue into the foreseeable future.
Leaders hope that frequent monitoring of illegal commercial vehicle parking will mitigate this quality of life matter in the community.
With commercial vehicle parking on residential streets growing as a quality of life issue in Bensonhurst, Community Board 11 leaders have decided to take action.
Community Board 11 Chairperson Bill Guarinello and District Manager Marnee Elias-Pavia, have sent a resolution to New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly asking for more police enforcement overnight. They hope that frequent monitoring of this illegal parking will help mitigate this problem.
“Parking is difficult enough for residents in our community without all of the box trucks, buses and vans, which are registered as passenger vehicles but meet the definition of a commercial vehicle as defined by law, that park overnight,” Elias-Pavia wrote in the resolution.
According to the Department of Transportation, commercial vehicles cannot park on residential streets between the hours of 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. A violation of this rule may result in a $65 ticket for the vehicle-owner.
Still, Elias-Pavia said that the number of commercial vehicles bending this rule in Bensonhurst is only getting greater. With this community becoming a “pilot project” for traffic enforcement, she hopes that this can change.
“We need consistent enforcement,” Elias-Pavia said. “Parking in Bensonhurst is difficult enough. We need to address this quality of life issue.”
See a copy of the letter to the NYPD after the jump.
Alternate side parking resumes tomorrow in Borough Park, Midwood and Bensonhurst, but not in Gravesend, Avenue P and southward.
Source: Andy C via Wikimedia Commons
Councilman David Greenfield wants the city to change a law that allows cars to park 15 feet away from fire hydrants in no-standing zones while a driver is in the car from sunrise to sunset only. He wants the law revamped to extend to a 24-hour time allowed for parking.
“It seems like one of these archaic laws that’s been on the books for many, many years, back before there were lights and sirens,” said Greenfield to the New York Post.
Greenfield introduced the bill yesterday. He states that his constituents have complained to him regarding receiving parking tickets when parking near hydrants after sunset. The tickets are as high as $115.00.
“One hundred years ago, when you had fire vehicles without lights and sirens, they probably didn’t want you parking at a hydrant at night because you couldn’t see them, but I would imagine in the year 2012 . . . you could hear these guys coming from a mile away.”
Greenfield is no stranger to parking woes. He’s been introducing bills related to hydrant parking since his election into office. Last year, he introduced a bill that would have required the curb in front of a hydrant be painted red to mark the illegal zone. Another bill was meant to shorten the 15 feet no-parking zone to just 10. Neither of his bills have been passed, but it doesn’t seem like Greenfield will stop trying to change what he deems to be New York’s antiquated parking laws.
Source: Jelson25 via Wikimedia Commons
Last month during the second day of celebration for Rosh Hashanah, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) towed vehicles after posting a note the day before, a time when operating a vehicle is not permitted.
Councilman David Greenfield has noticed a rise in the occurrence of similar events during the holidays and wants utility companies and city agencies to remember the Jewish holidays before performing any routine work.
He sent a letter to the agencies to make them more aware of the issue in the hopes of preventing these types of disruptions, according to the Yeshiva World News.
In the letter, Greenfield asks that for non-emergency work Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Shavuos, and the first two and last two days of Sukkot and Passover be noted in agency planning calendars.
He says, “I was dismayed to find the city towing cars from in front of a shul while the community was observing Rosh Hashanah. These types of situations can easily be avoided with better communication and planning by our city agencies and utility companies. This is a simple request on behalf of local families while they are observing major religious holidays.”
The burden of nighttime parking in Bensonhurst may soon be eased, as community leaders pursue a plan to give commercial vehicles the boot from residential on-street parking spaces.
Community Board 11 Chairperson Bill Guarinello is spearheading an effort to get rid of the commercial vehicles, which take up residential spaces despite city laws meant to prevent them from doing so.
“There seems to be explosion of commercial vehicles,” Guarinello said. “It starts to make the neighborhood look like a parking lot.”
Continue Reading »
Source: Adam E. Moreira via Wikimedia Commons
From the offices of Councilman David Greenfield:
Councilman David Greenfield introduced legislation during today’s Stated City Council meeting that would increase parking and reduce the number of tickets drivers receive by requiring the city to clearly delineate where each bus stop specifically begins and ends.
The proposed law was motivated by the stark need for additional parking spaces, especially in Greenfield’s Southern Brooklyn district, and the number of constituents who have reported receiving a parking ticket after unknowingly parking in bus stops – especially in cases when the bus stop extends all the way to the end of a block. The legislation is part of Greenfield’s continuing efforts to make owning a car a little easier and less frustrating by eliminating instances of unfair tickets and providing additional parking to drivers who are often forced to endlessly circle the block in search of a legal parking space.
“The city should make parking regulations as clear as possible to avoid tricking motorists into receiving tickets for violations they did not even realize they were committing. This common-sense legislation will help create additional parking spaces while making it clearer to drivers exactly where a bus stop begins and ends. This will in turn also increase the safety of those individuals who are taking mass transit on a regular basis,” explained Greenfield.
Currently, when only one sign is posted at a bus stop, the ‘no parking’ zone occupies the remainder of the block in the direction the arrow on the bus stop sign is pointing. Subsequently, because many drivers are not familiar with that law, motorists are frequently and unfairly issued tickets for unwittingly parking in extra-long bus zones. The legislation would require the city to install signs at the beginning and end of each bus stop in order to make ‘no parking’ and ‘no standing’ zones clear and to increase safety for bus drivers and passengers by preventing motorists from parking in or obstructing MTA bus stops.
Finally, this legislation will force the MTA to reevaluate whether it actually needs to take up as much space at each individual location that has a bus stop, especially those that use an entire block.
“The end result of this legislation will be more available parking for drivers, increased safety around bus stops and a reduction in the number of unfair tickets drivers receive. I will continue to seek new and creative ways to improve the quality of life for all of our residents,” concluded Greenfield.
The proposed legislation has been referred to the City Council’s Transportation Committee for hearings.
Source: Marlith via Wikimedia Commons
The Department of Transportation has asked for companies to submit Statements of Qualification if they are interested in managing and operating the city’s parking meters.
Companies will have to run a designated number of parking spaces to be considered and have $100 million in collateral. There are about 80,800 on-street parking spaces up for grabs.
Based on the responses from businesses, a decision will be made as to whether or not the project will take foot.
A spokeswoman for the mayor’s office said that the city would keep control of meter rates and violation enforcement, according to Voz Iz Neias.
Statements are due July 31.
Source: Miguel Tremblay via Wikimedia Commons
On Monday, April 23rd the Department of Transportation’s plan to repave 50th Street from 8th Avenue to 20th Avenue will begin. The first step of the major repair work is to mill the street, which will to last through Friday, April 27th. This means that straphangers and motorists will experience parking and service changes.
During the first week, parts of 50th Street will periodically be closed to traffic and parking, even for residents who live on the block. Signs advising residents of parking restrictions will be posted on impacted blocks one day prior to milling and paving, so drivers are reminded to be on the lookout for such notifications. Cars that are not moved will be towed and relocated to the nearest available parking spot in the neighborhood, according to a release from Councilman David Greenfield.
As previously reported, Greenfield has been instrumental in demanding that the busy stretch of dilapidated road be fixed.
In addition to street closures, the B11 bus will be rerouted from 50th Street to 52nd Street between 8th Avenue and 20th Avenue from 7 am to 3 pm each day next week. It will stop at the same corresponding locations and cross streets along 52nd Street as it normally does along 50th Street, and signs will be posted at the six stops informing riders of the temporary new locations. In cases where 52nd Street is blocked by fuel trucks or sanitation vehicles, the B11 will reroute to 60th Street, which could lead to further delays for riders. This follows standard practice for the B11 when 50th Street is blocked.
Residents with any questions or concerns can stop by Greenfield’s Borough Park district office at 4424 16th Avenue or call (718) 853-2704.
Less tickets with roll-over parking minutes
Brooklyn drivers may finally get a reprieve from parking tickets with a bill aimed at clarifying the issue of roll-over paid minutes at muni-meter spots, something that local Assemblyman William Colton has been working towards for some time.
The bill states that drivers who purchase time from a muni-meter parking spot can keep the receipt and use remaining time on another muni-meter spot in the city. The transferred receipt must be for spaces that are equal or lesser value than the original paid spot.
Colton attempted to introduce similar legislation in February but it did not go far because the City Council wanted a crack at leading the initiative.
Residents had already thought that roll-over minutes were allowed, but received parking tickets when they attempted to use leftover minutes, as previously reported by the Bensonhurst Bean.
The bill has the backing of Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg. Quinn told the NY Post that the bill is “plain and simple. You buy the time, you get to use it.”
Colton said that he’s “pleased the council is finally responding to concerns many of my constituents have been raising for some time.”
