Brooklyn drivers could lose 680 free parking spaces under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway if plans by the Department of Transportation to increase bike lanes and pedestrian paths are fulfilled.
The plans call for the removal of the spots between Apollo St. and Metropolitan Ave. to make way for a new two-lane bike path, extended pedestrian space and 400 parking meters.
Although hundreds of parking spaces will remain intact, they will be transferred to metered parking which will cost $1.50 per hour from 7:00am to 10:00m Monday to Saturday.
The DOT says the new plans are designed to increase street safety, build bike path connections and activate space under the BQE. According to the plans, the upgrades reduce conflicts with new, safer crossings and increase safety for all road users.
Currently, the department says, the area is a high crash corridor with 11 people killed or severely injured in a five year period, ranking in the top third of Brooklyn corridors. It adds that there are no dedicated spaces for cyclists or pedestrians and the area has become an underutilized space with abandoned vehicles underneath and illegal dumping.
Transportation Alternatives, a nonprofit that promotes public transport, walking and cycling, backed the project, according to Greenpointers. Juan Restrepo, a Senior Organizer at Transportation Alternatives told the publication that free parking was not a right.
“The car-centric status quo has failed New Yorkers, and we are proud to have worked on this plan with a broad coalition of local community groups and elected officials,” he said.
“This investment for Meeker Ave has been in the works since 2015 and was unanimously approved by the local community board this past May”
He said as the community cleaned up after the climate crisis-fueled flood and faced the deadliest year for traffic crashes since 2014, “we need to redesign streets to get people out of cars and keep New Yorkers safe.”
However, not all community members back the plan.
Meeker Ave. Neighbors has launched a petition that says the plan “is bad for the environment, bad for working people, and bad for our neighborhood” and that it will create more congestion and increase emissions as residents circle blocks “searching for parking that doesn’t exist.”
It also argues that the plans would limit transportation options for people who relied on personal vehicles for their daily commute in transit-poor areas, the elderly, the disabled, and blue collar workers, and displaces the homeless population residing under the BQE without any plan. So far the petition has attracted 1,030 signatures.
34 comments:
"Get people out of cars", good luck with that! Maybe if the city was allowed to stop ubers and lyft drivers to limit the amount of drivers they can hire then maybe there would be less cars on the streets. Everywhere I look, there is ubers and lyft and other private car companies driving empty vehicles just looking for passengers. Why doesnt the city clean up that mess first, then maybe start looking into making public transportation run more effectively in the "outer parts" of the city. Nobody wants to spend 2 hours just getting into the city from just Whitestone or Douglaston. Not to mention the fact that the lirr just keeps upping the prices on their tickets. Also, why don't you push through the plan to ever build a bridge from Connecticut to long Island? That would save LOADS of traffic but of course you dont want to impose on the rich snobs who own mansions in those parts of long Island. They complain about pollution in the air but have you ever thought about how much fuel a truck burns when it has to literally go through 2 boroughs just to reach long Island? Not to mention the hours of waiting on the George Washington Bridge because you still insist on have lanes instead of using those cameras like you have on the throgsneck bridge that can just snap a picture and go? How about cleaning up the subways too and actually putting the mentally disabled where they belong? In psychiatric facilities that can help them, instead of cutting funding to the psychiatric hospitals and closing them down to put money into your own pockets? Look at the way this city and state is ran and you tell me why you have so many traffic problems?
Why was it free in the first place? Why do car owners get everything for free? Of course you’ll hear the usual whining about the minuscule reg. Fee and gas tax.
Communists!
Someone needs to stop the Transportation Alternatives motherfuckers before it is too late.
Lease it out to Icon or Edison ParkFast. Use that money to lower taxes.
"Someone needs to stop the Transportation Alternatives motherfuckers before it is too late."
It's already too late
NYC is run by psychopaths from top to bottom.
People who are irresponsible enough to own cars in New York City should have to use their own space -- not public space -- to store their crap when they are not using it. And that's all parking is, really. Why do car owners — and only car owners — have the privilege of using our most public of spaces — our streets — to use as a free storage facility for their personal property, their cars? I have a feeling that if I decided to free up some space in my apartment and put my refrigerator on the street, there’d be trouble. But if you own a two-ton slab of glass and steel that happens to be a car, there’s no problem. You are allowed to completely block an entire lane of just about every street. You pay nothing for the privilege. That is valuable space and there are better things to use it for than storage. Why are cars more important than people?
I've been begging for a stop sign near where I live for 25 years but that can't happen - however the city has money for this?
Not everyone is able to, wants to or is happy with using public transit or biking. Street parking is the release valve to bad transit policy and street parking is the release valve to allow us to make the most use of limited transit resources that won't grow bigger even with congestion pricing.
"NYC is run by psychopaths from top to bottom." As are all Demorat cities ! #BLUEANON
Transportation Alternatives
https://transalt.squarespace.com/fy20supporters
Supporters and donors, Lyft, Verra Mobility, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Uber, Bike Rent NYC among others.
Major conflict of interest here. Listed entities have a vested interest in renting vehicles, rides, anything related to transportation.
RICO comes to mind.
People who are irresponsible enough to own cars in New York City should have to use their own space -- not public space -- to store their crap when they are not using it. And that's all parking is, really. Why do car owners — and only car owners — have the privilege of using our most public of spaces — our streets — to use as a free storage facility for their personal property, their cars? I have a feeling that if I decided to free up some space in my apartment and put my refrigerator on the street, there’d be trouble. But if you own a two-ton slab of glass and steel that happens to be a car, there’s no problem. You are allowed to completely block an entire lane of just about every street. You pay nothing for the privilege. That is valuable space and there are better things to use it for than storage. Why are cars more important than people?
Because they pay extra taxes, parking fees, fines, etc.
You on the other hand pay nothing, just opening your mouth for the world to see how unhinged you are.
Take your communist ideas, leanr mandarin and China is a good place for you.
Shill activist that you are.
"Why do car owners... have the privilege of using our most public of spaces — our streets — to use as a free storage facility for their personal property, their cars?"
You can't fight stupidity like this. It's intractable. Yet nitwits like this run the city from top to bottom.
"I have a feeling that if I decided to free up some space in my apartment and put my refrigerator on the street, there’d be trouble."
Well for one thing, everybody would take your food. For another, cars are an accepted form of transportation and have been for over a century. There are over 280 million of them in America. They aren't just some random "slab of glass and steel." Your point of view is aberrant, hostile, frankly somewhat paranoid and verging on lunacy. The problem isn't cars, Chico. It's YOU.
@People who are irresponsible enough to own cars in New York City should have to use their own space -
People who are irresponsible enough to have kids like you and we have to put up with you for free? Man, what a clown are you.
"Why do car owners get everything for free?"
What are you SMOKING?
Car owners have to pay VERY HIGH INSURANCE RATES every SINGLE YEAR!!
Car owners have to pay HIGH REGISTRATION FEES, HIGH GAS PRICES, HIGH PRICES to pay to park their vehicles in OVERPRICED GARAGES. Also, HIGH Maintenance Fees.
Don't forget about the HIGH TOLLS driving on the bridges the city fails to maintain every year.
Car owners PAY ENOUGH in this city run by brainwashed DERELICTS!!.
It is HARD ENOUGH travelling to the outer boroughs when Transit is OVERRUN with Mentally Ill people and Homeless Violent Drug Addicts.
Not everyone wants to take the subway and be harassed by homeless beggars or be pushed onto the subway tracks. That is why more people travel by car.
You should be asking yourself: Why do Bicyclists get FREE Bike lanes they don't pay for and why are my Property taxes constantly going up every year to pay for them?
How are the elderly and disabled suppose to get carry their medical equipment like breathing oxygen tanks to their doctor's appointments and back home?
Tell them cars are illegal in NYC and if you cannot ride a bicycle on your own, stay home and die?
"Why are cars more important than people ?" You are nuts ! Cars are tools used for transportation.
Solve the housing problem.
Remove cars stored on city streets. Rent out the freed up space to Winnebago's, and RV's. Rates would depend on location. Park Ave. may be a "little" more expensive than Wood haven Blvd.
Rent money goes towards improving the neighborhood.
Don't like your neighborhood, drive to a new one.
Sheeple get a special discount (goes without saying).
Now that's what I call freedom.
***Get people out of cars***
They can't, because the Globalist Dictator Demons offer no alternatives.
Uber, Lyft are making the situation worse.
MTA (the ones with dual bookkeeping) is for congestion pricing, but they don't worry about buses, subways except when activists need free transportation during a pandemic.
Same with electric cars. Is this their idea of a "green economy"?
With the recent floods good luck having one of those EV-s in the garage.
While you drowning, the house goes on fire.
Pretty odd situation one must admit.
Texas, windmills, freezing rain and 30% of the state's electricity is missing from the grid while people are shivering, have no heat, no electricity.
Mindless fools, they don't want anything green other than the dollars lining their pockets.
No alternatives, no backup plan, only non-stop propaganda by their mindless Mockingbird media for the idiots who are too busy on social media, but never opened a book in their life.
As George Carlin said it once - the people are the problem.
Can I set up a tent in the middle of the street. I pay taxes too, so why not set my tent up for free the same as car owners do.
Oh by the way I also want to build a shed on the side of our street. My neighbor parks his car for weeks on the side of the street so I may as well build a shed there to store my construction equipment.
Im sure the freedom hating communists will complain, but who cares.
"Anonymous said...
Why was it free in the first place? Why do car owners get everything for free? Of course you’ll hear the usual whining about the minuscule reg. Fee and gas tax."
The fees drivers pay are not minuscule, if you got off the streetsblog and transportation alternatives websites and did some research you would see the thousands of dollars drivers pay each year in taxes, tolls and meters to support the road systems.
You erroneously ask why do car drivers get everything for free? Well I ask why do bicycles get everything for free? All those brand new bicycle lanes and infrastructure were built, and it wasn't paid for by bicyclists, thats for sure.
"I have a feeling that if I decided to free up some space in my apartment and put my refrigerator on the street, there’d be trouble. But if you own a two-ton slab of glass and steel that happens to be a car, there’s no problem. You are allowed to completely block an entire lane of just about every street. You pay nothing for the privilege. That is valuable space and there are better things to use it for than storage."
You are right there would be an issue if you decided to dump your refrigerator in the street. Because a car allows a person to go to and from work to make money to survive and pay taxes needed to run a government. Without a car you can't go to work to get the money to pay the tax, and the city slowly dies because people leave. A dumped refrigerator does not provide that opportunity. When it pays as much tax and fees as a driver does in a year, we can talk about legally leaving your refrigerator in a parking spot.
And maybe you live 10 minutes from your job, and can hop on a tricycle and go to work, but most people can't afford that luxury have to live further away. People are not going to spend hours to take numerous buses and subways to get to work or go shopping for the luxury of having deranged homeless and aggressive panhandlers accost us the whole way.
Again the fake news of drivers don't pay for the "privilege" is brought up. We pay and pay and pay. Transit riders who jump the turnstiles and walk past the bus farebox, and bike riders are the ones who don't pay.
And its brought up there are better things to use the streets for. With these "open streets" the city had where a street is closed off, they sit unused at the expense of thousands of other people, so one idiot doing yoga can sit in the middle of the street. We have a place for that they are called public parks.
Cars aren't more important than people, they are an important tool that allows people to live their lives and function in our city.
@"Again the fake news of drivers don't pay for the "privilege" is brought up. We pay and pay and pay."
Sure you pay and pay for car maintainence, insurance and gasoline. But that is your decision to buy the car in the first place. It still doesn't give you the right to store your car on the street. I pay property taxes, income tax etc. That doesn't give me the right to store my furniture on the street.
Owning a car doesn't grant some special privilege that you should get free storage compliments of the tax payer.
"Owning a car doesn't grant some special privilege that you should get free storage compliments of the tax payer"
What exactly is the taxpayer paying for me to park my car on the street for free? The city would loose money if I got rid of my car. Is your argument that the city could make more revenue if the spots are all metered?
Because then you can go down the rabbit hole of all the other things the city could get more money on if they charged for it.
"""That doesn't give me the right to store my furniture on the street.
Owning a car doesn't grant some special privilege that you should get free storage compliments of the tax payer. """
Actually you know why motorists are paying taxes for idiot?
Comparing furniture to car? Are you really this stupid?
What portion of a parked car - "free" storage" - is being paid by the tax payer?
Since you cannot be this stupid, you a paid shill activist scumbag.
You are here to provoke on tax payers dime, what fucked up activist group are you a member of? Do tell.
Why do car owners get everything for free?
they paid for your fucking bike lanes asshole. Now get lost and provoke your family for a round of group sex.
@"Activist Group"
They act like a cult ! I seriously wonder if they have mental issues.
They been indoctrinated to actually believe that anyone that does not believe the same as they do is a Nazi. They even call police officers “Nazis.” How else do you explain liberal journalists putting their professional reputation on the line to knowingly report fake news about President Trump or members of his administration in order to support their false narrative that they end up having to later retract? In addition, liberals are very hateful and abusive. Prove me wrong....
Very easy for some single bike riding hipster to say get rid of cars but let's see what they'll say when they have to take the family shopping or take a trip or when they are too old to bike.Every other car on the road has TL&C plates and they are all driving around waiting to drive someone who doesn't have a car or doesn't want to take public transportation. When I drive I see very few bike riders and lots of cars,that should tell you something.
@“ How else do you explain liberal journalists putting their professional reputation on the line to knowingly report fake news about President Trump or members of his administration”
I do feel bad for you sometimes.
By the way , I have a lot of money stashed in. Nigerian bank and could use your help retrieving it. Yo could get rich from this one.,,,,
@“ hey paid for your fucking bike lanes asshole”
No my tax money paid for It and for your free car storage.
No my tax money paid for It and for your free car storage.
I paid for your free bike lane asshole.
You don't pay taxes on your communist bikes.
Thank God mommy allows you to live in the basement.
Everything our DeMoRat government touches turns to shit.
NY is all #BLUEANON yet the Bidenese want to blame the "RIGHT WING" !
These people are nuts !
@“ You don't pay taxes on your communist bikes. ”
I didn’t realize a bike could be communist. How about a boat? Is that a communist or a fascist? Would an airplane be libertarian ?
Is it ok if I store all my furniture on the street while I renovate my apartment? I pay property taxes you know. If people can store their cars on the street for free, then it should be ok.
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