There was a study done back in Howard Golden's days which found that most of the driveways in Brooklyn were illegal, either because they were built without a permit or weren't being used in compliance with the law.

The law requires that a curb cut must either be accompanied by an enclosed garage (e.g. not a car port) or off-street parking a minimum of eighteen feet from the public right of way (e.g. the sidwalk). There have been relatively few variances granted which make exception to this law. In other words, if you see a car parked on what would otherwise be the home's front lawn, the probability is almost certain it's an illegal driveway.

We have a lot of problems with this in Bay Ridge too, especially when row house owners get second cars or rent out illegal apartments. Then these idiots park those cars the sidewalk. There are four row houses on 68th St off Ridge where parking is brazenly illegal, sometimes completely obstructing the sidewalk.

Posted by: rowhouse at December 18, 2007 10:04 AM in response to Off Street Parking

I just got back from a CB-9 meeting where the board voted to support two Intros proposed by Tish James.

One would end self-certification for curb cuts; the second would empower the City to repair [i.e. remove] illegal curb cuts and bill the property owner.

Posted by: Bob Marvin at December 18, 2007 9:43 PM in response to Off Street Parking

Even though these look like ped ramps, there is a problem with entitlement parking here.

I used to live across the street from condos in Carroll Gardens. The condos had legal curb cuts and driveways - no big deal there. The problem was when one of the condo owners told me I couldn't park my motorcycle in the section between curb cuts (about 4-5 feet long, only enough for a bike or Mini Cooper) because it was HIS spot. They would park one car in the driveway, and the other on the street blocking their own curbcut.

I knew I was in the right, but I wasn't about to argue with him nor park my bike there again, because I'm sure he would have just knocked it over with his FUV.

Posted by: guest at December 19, 2007 12:15 PM in response to Off Street Parking