Halloran Sponsors Driver-Friendly Changes to Alternate-Side Parking Laws

Council Member Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) is co-sponsoring legislation that would change the way the city regulates alternate-side parking laws. The legislation would allow drivers to park on the street once that street has been cleaned by street sweepers.

The current laws are intended to clear streets for regular street cleanings, but they burden and inconvenience drivers who park on the street.

“The inner borough, because of its political influence, often gets to dictate how the rest of us live,” said Halloran. “In Manhattan, where most folks don’t rely on their cars, they have no problem burdening car owners with excessive ticketing and laws restricting where you can park and when. But here in the outer boroughs, we drive. And our current strict alternate-side parking regulations are a needless nuisance.”

Halloran’s northeast Queens district consists largely of one- and two-family houses. Public transit options are few. There are no MTA subway stops in the district, and most residents commute primarily by automobile.

“There is a false perception that drivers in New York City are rich and well-to-do,” said Halloran. “But in my community, most car owners are middle class people, and alternate-side laws affect them the most. Middle class drivers often don't have access to driveways and are forced to park on the street. They have to adjust their lives around the next street cleaning. It takes people away from their jobs and families. And if they forget to move their car, they are hit with costly parking tickets.”

Halloran is one of two cosponsors of the bill from Queens. The legislation, sponsored by Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez (D-Manhattan), is currently in the Council’s Transportation Committee.