Construction crew taking up street parking?
A brownstone a few doors down from us is undergoing conversion to condo. The construction crews have one large dumpster/container on the street, and have also blocked off about 4 parking spots with cones, construction materials, saw horses, buckets, etc. Is it legal to take up so many parking spots? It’s hard enough to find…
A brownstone a few doors down from us is undergoing conversion to condo. The construction crews have one large dumpster/container on the street, and have also blocked off about 4 parking spots with cones, construction materials, saw horses, buckets, etc. Is it legal to take up so many parking spots?
It’s hard enough to find street parking as it is, but I’m disabled and walking an extra block because a contractor is taking up 5 spots for their work crews, trucks, etc is incredibly annoying. Even with a valid handicapped placard, it is sometimes hard to find parking on my block, and the extra walk is very difficult.
Is there anything I can do? I’ve tried moving the cones and construction detritus but some of it is really heavy. I would LOVE to leave cones and crap around in front of MY house to reserve a spot for myself but it just doesn’t seem fair.
It is certainly not legal for them to block off the parking. It is difficult to get any official enforcement. One thing that you can try is to contact the local community board or city councilmember’s office The staff there may contact the developer on your behalf and request that they not take up so much parking.
Without a DOT permit all of this reserving of parking is done only by intimidation. I am constantly moving cones and baricades in order to park. I have had my car scratched however and it is impossible to prove who did that (short of a live video).
Not a good situation for all involved.
It is not legal. You need a permit to obstruct parking.
Thanks for the super helpful comment about taking the bus. Clearly since walking a few extra blocks from my car is a significant hurdle, walking blocks and blocks to the bus and then standing there while waiting, and walking blocks from wherever the bus drops me off to my final destination sounds like a GREAT plan!!
This is on Butler between Smith and Court. There are two brownstones undergoing construction. One crew is super courteous, while the other is quite dismissive of complaints by neighbors. Some of the residents on the block have called in repeated noise complaints, and other construction violations. This parking thing is only one of a list of annoyances.
I tried calling 311 and whoever I talked to didn’t know if it was legal or not. So I thought I’d ask here.
If you have a significant disability and this is causing you a problem you should contact the Mayor’s office for people with disabilities – http://www.nyc.gov/html/mopd/html/home/home.shtml – they can tell you what you can do and if the contractor can be made to accomodate you
Call 311 to find out 2 things:
1) If it’s actually legal for them to block off the extra spaces because I doubt it is.
2) If you can get a handicap parking space painted on your block. I’ve seen them.
Where is this happening if you don’t mind saying?
Sell your car and start taking the bus.
Sorry, I should have been more clear. I was wondering if there was any way I could have the contractor fined or something. As a person with a significant disability, it is impossible for me to haul their construction crap out of the way.
I asked the construction manager politely if they could stop taking up so many spaces and they laughed at me and told me it was totally legal.
Of course it isn’t legal to block spaces. The dumpster is ok as long as they have a permit. Short of moving their crap out of your way; whaddaya gonna do? As a contractor who hauls alot of heavy material in and out of job sites I understand why they want to block up some spaces. These guys work out of their vehicles. They are their offices and will walk from the car to the site probably 40 times a day. This is where their sense of entitlement comes from. They feel they need the spot more than most people. This doesn’t make it right, but that’s what you’re looking at. You could ask them politely not to monopolize the street (they will most likely laugh at you and question your sexual orientation), or you could ask them to block out aspace for you. I think those are probably your best options because some knuckle dragging traffic agent isn’t going to do anything for you.