New York, NY – The City Council was stopped by the de Blasio administration on Monday from moving forward on a proposal that would alleviate alternate side parking rules.
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Sanitation Department officials opposed the new bill that would allow drivers to return to their parking space after the street cleaning crews have gone by. Sanitation stated it will lead to dirtier streets, as reported by NY Daily News (http://nydn.us/1mBRnDe).
The bill was intended to lighten the much-hated rule where drivers have to move their cars for 90 minutes at a time to let the street sweepers pass.
Paul Visconti, the assistant chief of cleaning operations, said that sweepers usually have to clean the same block twice because vehicles that have blocked the first pass. He also said multiple trips are necessary during the fall months when thick piles of leaves start accumulate.
He said it’s also not possible to know if a street sweeper has already passed a street, as they do not use GPS devices, like the snow plows do.
Despite the halt on the bill, Council members said they plan to move forward anyway, saying drivers shouldn’t have to spend time moving their cars or be slapped with fines of $45 or more.
Transportation Chairman Ydanis Rodriguez, one of the sponsors of the bill, says the bill could lessen congestion and pollution caused by drivers circling the block, looking for new spaces.
The proposal would also ban ticketing drivers sitting in their cars in prohibited spaces as long as they move their vehicles when a sweeper comes through. Visconti says this contradicts the idea that the bill would cut down on pollution, since drivers would be sitting in idling cars running heat or air conditioning.
thank you for blocking this proposal. I would have had an easier life on an almost daily basis. keep opposing positive change and we’ll love you for it.
This was obvious !! We all saw it coming.
It’s true that there are many people who may have benefited from such a plan especially in very congested areas. But I think that more people would have been hurt by it. Here are a few examples As I heard the main sponsor of the bill say; people stay in their cars idling. but what about the thousands of people who take advantage of the leniency to double park on alternate side days how will the know when the street sweeper came down their block. You can be sure if this bill would have passed the double parking privilege would be history. Second I’ll give two examples just on my block that the present system is good. !) I have an elderly neighbor, she moves her car twice a week She knows Tuesday and Friday she can do her errands and come back to find a parking space. 2) There is a mechanic on my block who hogs parking spaces (Just recently, one night I counted five cars that were under his care parked on the street sometimes they stay there for days.) In the present system Monday night he has to move those cars giving people on the block a place to park. It also helps us for Tuesday also. For me it’s better this way.
solve the problem by banning all vehicles in New York City
“sweepers usually have to clean the same block twice because vehicles that have blocked the first pass” did anyone see a sweeper circle the street twice???
there are other ways to help residents find parking.1) time of cleaning in adjacent zones should not have overlapping with each other( one side of avenue- 8:30-10:00 other side – 9:30-11:00). 2) avenues and streets should have different days for cleaning so parking capacity is reduced only 25% instead of the present 50%. 3) many cities around the world have special permits issued to residents of specific neighborhoods to allow parking overnight which non-residents would not have.
the sweepers do nothing but push the dirt around. years ago there were trucks with water, like power washers, they actually cleaned.
also, getting rid of alternate side will lose lots of money for nyc…they wont go for that