DOT Says No to Residential Parking Permits Near Arena

In a decision sure to disappoint many residents of Fort Greene, Prospect Heights, Park Slope and even Boerum Hill and Clinton Hill, DOT has decreed that residential parking permits are not merited by the increased crowds and traffic that the Barclays Arena will bring; DOT argues that the overall nighttime vacancy rates of 19 percent during the week and 27 percent on the weekends are sufficient to absorb arena visitors who don’t want to spend money on a garage. The agency issued its findings in a study of the parking conditions around both the Barclays Center and Yankeee Stadium, which was also denied permits; 60 percent of visitors to Yankee Stadium come by car, whereas officials are projecting that number to be only 30 percent at Barclays because of the better mass transit options. One of the inherent flaws of the study seems to be that it paints the plight of entire neighborhoods with one brush, treating someone who lives (and parks) at Carlton and Bergen (just a couple of blocks from the arena) the same as someone at, say, Park Place and Underhill. “DOT missed the boat,” Gib Veconi of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council told The New York Post. “The permits aren’t about entitlement or guaranteeing parking for residents. They’re about discouraging people from driving to games.” Council Member Letitia James wasn’t pleased with the decision either, though DOT says it will revisit the issue after the arena opens. To be fair, the city doesn’t currently offer residential parking permits anywhere, so the decision is probably being viewed as a precedent-setter that could open the floodgates for requests from every neighborhood in town. For a more detailed analysis of the news, check out Atlantic Yards Report.