From the Daily News:Civic leaders long have tried to address the scarcity of spaces near the Austin St. retail stretch - centered at 71st-Continental Ave., a block from the subway.
But the "Queens Parking Crunch" series is renewing calls for solutions so locals can awaken from their spot-search nightmare.
In interviews with Queens News, locals suggested everything from angled parking to making Austin St. one way to erecting a municipal lot close by.
But resolving the vehicular vexation first requires an understanding of why finding a spot in Forest Hills has become so difficult.
Customers frequent the Midway Theatre on Queens Blvd., Barnes & Noble and a diverse mix of eateries and clothing stores that line Austin St. from Ascan Ave. to Yellowstone Blvd.
If motorists venture south into Forest Hills Gardens, it compounds their stress because only residents of the private enclave and visitors with passes can park there.
On the other hand, crossing Queens Blvd. leads to stretches of apartment buildings, houses and offices where the demand for parking outweighs the supply.
"It's a major concern in the district - very frustrating riding around the block looking for a spot," said Frank Gulluscio, manager of Community Board 6.
Sounds like you need a bike lane!
21 comments:
We need more residential construction. Let's keep packing people into the city until it is so crowded you can't get out your front door!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I go to austin st all the time and if you're willing to walk a block or two like me you can always find an empty meter. Don't be lazy.
Make Austin street one way and open up all of Burns street to the public.
i live close to austin street
and the $198.90 i pay for spot every month is worth every damn penny
this is an old issue
Actually, it sounds like parking is too cheap there. In any dense neighborhood, parking supply will always be less than demand -- that's simply a function of the urban design. If you want walkable neighborhoods with enough residents to support retail like Austin Street has, you simply cannot allocate massive quantities of space to car parking. That's self-defeating.
Instead, what you could do is raise the price of parking in order to encourage 1) turnover and 2) shoppers to take alternate modes. You raise the price until you get a few open spots per block. Any money raised goes back to improving the area -- benches, sidewalks cleaning, street trees, whatever, all of which benefit the neighborhood.
Except that you can't rely on just the people in the walkable neighborhood to sustain businesses in the central business area. You need to draw people in from other neighborhoods - neighborhoods where there may not be decent public transportation and the residents must drive.
Seriously - people come from all over Queens to go to the movies and restaurants on Austin Street.
I take care of an elderly man in the neighborhood and try to save him the $20 for a few hours in a lot by using a meter. I have been ticketed for feeding the meter!!!! On Queens Blvd.! I live 10 minutes away by car and an hour by bus and train (coming from North Flushing), so public transportation isn't really an option. I also need my car to take my employer out.
I would be happy to use a municipal lot, if one existed!!!
Austin Street should become one-way, but then we'll need to figure out how to reroute the Q23 bus route.
Take the damn subway for God's sake.
Yes! Because everyone has a subway down the street from them!
Moron.
I drive over from KGH to go to the movies (yes, if I wanted, I could take bus or subway), and always try to park on the other side of Queens Blvd, but that has become more difficult w/the McMansioning of the private homes & the extended double driveways taking away more street parking.
Austin Street should become one-way, but then we'll need to figure out how to reroute the Q23 bus route.
Make Austin and Burns a loop; just make sure there is a strong measure of "traffic calming" devices on Burns to keep it from becoming a free way.
and always try to park on the other side of Queens Blvd, but that has become more difficult w/the McMansioning of the private homes & the extended double driveways taking away more street parking.
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came to say this.
The Bukharian Jews have done well to pave over their front yards and make it on giant driveway, thus eliminating street parking.
i saw one house with a car parked ON THE WALKWAY TO THE FRONT DOOR. And this was next to a double wide driveway.
If they didn't insist on having 10 generations living in one house, they wouldn't need half a dozen parking spots.
Why on earth do you need a car around Austin Street, anyway? The local and express trains, and even the LIRR, have a stop in Forest Hills. NYC has mass transit for a reason!
I guess you didn't read my previous comment.
I find parking in the area difficult but possible; I've had a more difficult time parking in Flushing near Roosevelt Ave, even though there's municipal parking.
My main problem with driving in the Continental/Austen area is the amount of double parking and illegal U-turns. I've actually never experinced any thing like it.
There's plenty of ticketing for expired meters, but there's no enforcement of double parking rules.
I don't know; Is double parking legal, as long as you put your blinkers on? It seems like it is.
Those brain-dead metermaids don't have the authority to dole out moving violation tickets.
If I were borderline retarded I'd rather make a living using a supermarket scanning gun rather than a ticketing gun. I'd get less verbal abuse.
Whew....this chooch looks like something right out of "Goodfellas"!
Yesterday (Feb. 2), I was visiting Borough Hall. A court officer's car had a parking ticket on its windshield because the court officer's parking pass expired on Feb. 1.
Good to see some meter maids applying the law to everyone, including civil servants with expired parking passes.
" Anonymous said...
Why on earth do you need a car around Austin Street, anyway? The local and express trains, and even the LIRR, have a stop in Forest Hills. NYC has mass transit for a reason!"
I live in Ridgewood - Have you ever seen the Q54?? It would take me 20 minutes to get from Fresh Pond to 80th street between the hours of 8-6! Q38 never comes anddd then I would have to take a subway to 71st/continental... total time = a good 50 min... if I drive... 10-15 min... choice is obvious.
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