City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is giving notice that this Wednesday, June 22nd, the Council Transportation Committee will be holding a public hearing on a package of bills aimed at improving parking across the five boroughs.
The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in the 14th Floor Committee Room at 250 Broadway in Lower Manhattan and will cover the following bills:
Proposed Int. No. 44-A: Co-sponsored by Council Members Jessica Lappin and Brad Lander, this bill would create one-day temporary parking permits. That way, for example, the next time you move into a new apartment, you'd be able to park your truck in the parking lane where parking or standing is otherwise be prohibited and not have to worry about getting a ticket.
Proposed Int. No. 231-A: Sponsored by Council Member James Vacca, this bill would require photographs to be included with certain notices of violation for parking violations.
Int. No. 301: Sponsored by Council Member Dan Garodnick, this bill would require the NYC Department of Finance to dismiss parking violations issued for the failure to display a muni-meter receipt if the driver provides a valid receipt from the time the ticket was issued.
Int. No. 372: Sponsored by Council Member Stephen Levin, this bill would suspend alternate side of the street parking rules on blocks adjacent to where film crews are shooting.
Int. No. 465: Sponsored by Council Member Dan Garodnick, this bill would require parking placards to have a barcode so that traffic enforcement agents can confirm their validity;
Int. No. 609: Sponsored by Council Member Joel Rivera, this bill would allow for an electronic signature for persons who contest a parking ticket online. That way, motorists who decide to contest a parking ticket online would not be required to appear in person before the Parking Violations Bureau simply to submit a signature.
Int. No. 610: When a parking ticket is upheld by an Administrative Judge, the violation can begin to accumulate additional fines after seven days. Under this bill, sponsored by Council Member James Sanders, additional penalties would not accumulate until 30 days after parking ticket has been upheld by an Administrative Judge.
Speaker Quinn urges us: "If you're interested in testifying and/or have any stories that relate to these bills that that you'd like to share with us, please feel free to contact Nivardo Lopez in the NYC Council Human Services Division at (212) 788-9087/nlopez@council.nyc.gov . You can also email your comments and stories to us at speakerquinn@council.nyc.gov, and we'll be sure to forward them to the Committee's staff to be included in the official record for Wednesday's hearing."
The more of us that go on record, the better!
Showing posts with label City Council. Show all posts
Showing posts with label City Council. Show all posts
Monday, June 20, 2011
Sunday, November 7, 2010
City Council Considers Dramatic Changes in Alternate Side Parking Rules
This Tuesday (11/9) the City Council has three items on their agenda that could alter life with Alternate Side of the Street Parking as we know it. And if any of these proposed changes appeal to or concern you, you should write the city council, call your local representatives, spread the word, or somehow make your support (objections?) heard. If interested, the Find Your Council Member Page gives contact information for the Council Member of your district, and there is always the Contact the Mayor link on the right of this Blog.
(1) Int 0113-2010 A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to limiting the days that alternate side of the street parking is in effect in residentially zoned districts.
(2) Int 0287-2010 A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York in relation to reducing department of sanitation street cleaning days.
(3) Int 0375-2010 A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to allowing vehicles to park on the restricted side of a street which is subject to alternate side parking rules without being ticketed if the owner is in the vehicle and able to move it or if the street has already been cleaned.
Those of you who have heard my whines and complaints about Alternate Side Parking insanity may be surprised to know that I don’t favor the first two items above. Of course, (1) Limiting Alt Side in residential neighborhoods and/or (2) Limiting Alt Side everywhere sound like manna from Heaven, but lest we forget, Street Cleaning keeps our streets clean and, let’s face it, litter on our streets is the last major unsolved Quality of Life crime there is in this city. It’s the one social crime left that keeps New York from looking practically perfect. While many of us have successfully focussed past the amount of debris on our sidewalks and streets as we rush to wherever it is we have to be, anyone with small children or a dog experiences up close and personal our blossoming, low-lying, street waste.
And, keep in mind, rainwater flows from rooftops, sidewalks and streets to storm drains, and to our creeks, canals, and rivers. Street sweeping captures litter, sediment, and fallen leaves before they enter the storm drains protecting our waterways from these pollutants.
I also have little faith that, even if a reduction is put into effect, it would last for very long. As a great scientist somewhere told us, the DOT abhors a vacuum. Once Alt Side is discontinued on certain days, is it reasonable to think parking regulations in residential neighborhoods on these days will just stay vanished or will something else, something revenue producing, take its place. Muni Meters are a pretty easy install and the sign posts are already there.
Lastly, and I have mentioned this before in the Post "Parking Trends or Why We Need Alternate Side Parking," I believe, and I have very little evidence to prove it, that if Alt Side Rules are lessened, parking will become more difficult. Reasons for moving will be fewer and the open spaces it created will be harder to find. People will squat. Local residents may even organize the giving and taking of spaces that can be held for days at a time. An easing of Alternate Side Rules may even encourage more people to own cars.
The third (Int 0375-2010) seems like a no brainer, but, in this city, will still probably need your full support to get passed. As long as a driver is in the car and ready to move, of course, he or she should not be ticketed! The sign says No Parking NOT No Standing or No Stopping. The purpose of these laws is to enable street sweeping. Let’s revert to that more civilized way of life. It will be difficult to dispute a ticket based on the “already swept” defense, so get your cameras and cell phones ready. Still, just having this rule in the law will promote the writing of tickets for the purpose intended and should help make more reasonable ticket writing the norm. It may happen that a string of automobiles will trail and scatter behind a street sweeper like it is the Pied Piper or Johnny Appleseed of street parking but, of course, it may be.
(1) Int 0113-2010 A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to limiting the days that alternate side of the street parking is in effect in residentially zoned districts.
(2) Int 0287-2010 A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York in relation to reducing department of sanitation street cleaning days.
(3) Int 0375-2010 A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to allowing vehicles to park on the restricted side of a street which is subject to alternate side parking rules without being ticketed if the owner is in the vehicle and able to move it or if the street has already been cleaned.
Those of you who have heard my whines and complaints about Alternate Side Parking insanity may be surprised to know that I don’t favor the first two items above. Of course, (1) Limiting Alt Side in residential neighborhoods and/or (2) Limiting Alt Side everywhere sound like manna from Heaven, but lest we forget, Street Cleaning keeps our streets clean and, let’s face it, litter on our streets is the last major unsolved Quality of Life crime there is in this city. It’s the one social crime left that keeps New York from looking practically perfect. While many of us have successfully focussed past the amount of debris on our sidewalks and streets as we rush to wherever it is we have to be, anyone with small children or a dog experiences up close and personal our blossoming, low-lying, street waste.
And, keep in mind, rainwater flows from rooftops, sidewalks and streets to storm drains, and to our creeks, canals, and rivers. Street sweeping captures litter, sediment, and fallen leaves before they enter the storm drains protecting our waterways from these pollutants.
I also have little faith that, even if a reduction is put into effect, it would last for very long. As a great scientist somewhere told us, the DOT abhors a vacuum. Once Alt Side is discontinued on certain days, is it reasonable to think parking regulations in residential neighborhoods on these days will just stay vanished or will something else, something revenue producing, take its place. Muni Meters are a pretty easy install and the sign posts are already there.
Lastly, and I have mentioned this before in the Post "Parking Trends or Why We Need Alternate Side Parking," I believe, and I have very little evidence to prove it, that if Alt Side Rules are lessened, parking will become more difficult. Reasons for moving will be fewer and the open spaces it created will be harder to find. People will squat. Local residents may even organize the giving and taking of spaces that can be held for days at a time. An easing of Alternate Side Rules may even encourage more people to own cars.
The third (Int 0375-2010) seems like a no brainer, but, in this city, will still probably need your full support to get passed. As long as a driver is in the car and ready to move, of course, he or she should not be ticketed! The sign says No Parking NOT No Standing or No Stopping. The purpose of these laws is to enable street sweeping. Let’s revert to that more civilized way of life. It will be difficult to dispute a ticket based on the “already swept” defense, so get your cameras and cell phones ready. Still, just having this rule in the law will promote the writing of tickets for the purpose intended and should help make more reasonable ticket writing the norm. It may happen that a string of automobiles will trail and scatter behind a street sweeper like it is the Pied Piper or Johnny Appleseed of street parking but, of course, it may be.
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