Street parking rules for brownstone renovations
Hi Brownstoners. This has been a year of unprecedented construction along our block. The third gut-renovation of a brownstone in the last 7 months has just commenced. The GC and his gang have stored construction materials in the parking lane the width of their lot, and are also using more materials to block spaces in front of the neighboring buildings. Can anyone tell me if there is an actual legal right they have to occupy the street in front of the lot? If so, surely that right doesn’t pertain to the lots adjacent? Parking is at a premium already, and these guys rope off large sections for days without using them. Thanks.
hoytdude
in Brownstoner Renovation 11 years and 10 months ago
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agdipierro
in Brownstoner Renovation 11 years and 10 months ago
There is no legal right to occupy the street in front of a property. Permits are needed for dumpsters, no parking areas and street closings.
greenmountain | 11 years and 10 months ago
I was not condoning littering, illegal dumping, code violations, flippers, drinking on the job, or spitting on the sidewalk. I am ready to believe many things you see are as stupid as what I see every day. The assumptions I made have to do with a wider picture and may be wrong in your particulars. But I am trying to compete legally, where the going rate nearly always includes fraud. Inspectors and auditors have come to me after being shut out by apparently illegal operators. No violations ever stuck, but the bad guys keep getting away with it. I think many clients and neighbors deserve better treatment and results, and it is hard for me to get paid for cleaning up the mess of others. Perhaps if our laws and enforcement were fair, many clients would pay more, but tear-out and re-do less often. The DOT also assumes working vehicles are commercial and bases their predictions on the “construction industry.” New construction and major projects is a much smaller share of the economic pie or proportional demand on parking than the DOT accounts for. Most of our housing units are old and are being worked on by a much greater proportion of small contractors and individuals than anybody has a reliable number for. This is why I meant mostly private vehicles used to carry renovation supplies, equipment, and debris. The commercial vans double parked on affluent streets during business hours are often owned by plumbers, electricians, larger contractors, or those with higher revenue streams. Many more workers and small subs arrive in private cars. I have the same problem parking my personal vehicle as you do, but I also pay for secure off street parking far away from my home or my client’s home. Few small contractors can afford commercial insurance or dedicate a van for work. The benefits of commercial plates is also limited. Legal carting of construction debris on small jobs is rare. Construction Debris, often lead-bearing, is scattered around our city, or mixed in with municipal waste. If a contractor hasn’t got a few yards of it or a secure place to accumulate it, he will stuff it, and tools, and supplies in to personal vehicles, or what ever wheels he can borrow, or rent, and get rid of it where ever and when ever nobody is watching. Recently, I lost my wallet in a Connecticut parking lot. It was recovered and returned to me with all the cash and cards by another contractor in Queens. We swapped notes. I was audited by Anthony Gorman for the NYS DOL and charged $247 in “unreported payroll.” Had I been employing workers off the books, I would have been thrilled with the nearly-free pass. But, when I asked about the bookkeeping entry leading to this result, my auditor said “We don’t look at your books because we know everybody in your indsutry is cheating” (on payroll taxes). “We discuss it among our selves…” I demanded the other people’s names and threatened to quote him to my client, “an editor at the NY Times.” A new audit quickly arrived corrected to “0” with old-fashioned white out. The guy who got my wallet, sent his auditor back to re-audit his books two more times before he got a “0 unreported payroll”. I would really like to change all of this behavior, from billions of dollars in uncollected payroll taxes to street parking priorities, but I need your help. Sorry for provoking you to ask for it. If you want to discuss it further, you can find me in the directory under Shower Stalls – Green Mountain.
hoytdude | 11 years and 10 months ago
I just realized by “non-working,” you meant “non-commercial.” So NOBODY should be able to park on a residential street except contactor vans? LOL. That would mean I’d have to call a vendor for every minor repair instead of driving to a supply house and making the repair myself. I’m sure that would be GREAT for your bottom line, but it’s not the world I want to live in.
hoytdude | 11 years and 10 months ago
Greenmountain. SO many assumptions in your post. I am someone who “provides, maintains and improves housing,” in that I own a multi-family in this neighborhood with two rental units (and my own residence). I use my car to haul construction materials. EVERY car in this neighborhood parked onstreet is a working vehicle, as they have to be moved twice a week for street sweeping. Nobody is asking for exclusive or priority treatment. Parking here is first-come, first-served. It is the contractor down the street who, by blocking parking spots, is expecting—I’m sorry did I say “expecting”, I meant “stealing”—priority access to a parking spot by loading it with pallettes. And as far as dumping his materials there—put them on your damned site, not in the middle of the road. There’s nothing preventing him from getting a dumpster permit and storing cinderblocks in his dumpster. They’d be more secure than they are now.
BobMarvin | 11 years and 10 months ago
I agree that providing parking for work vehicles is a worthy goal, but residents do NOT have “exclusive or top priority on business-hour, side-street parking” in NYC.
greenmountain | 11 years and 10 months ago
Official construction zone parking-only signs are used on large renovations. Why not use them on small ones too? Permits are available for parking of dumpsters and other equipment. Why not use them for storage containers on smaller jobs? I often suggest to city council members and economic development officials, that special parking privileges for licensed Home Improvement Contractors, would incentivize legal, safe, and ethical work, as opposed to the usual kind. If DOT engineers were able to fairly access the parking needs of home improvement workers, I am convinced you would have an even tougher time finding a space. Lucky for you, so much of the work is done by contractors filing fraudulent payroll tax returns and not providing NYS required workers’ comp insurance; the DOT really has no valid data. Parking is a higher priority for those of us who provide, maintain and improve housing, than for residents with luxury (non-working) vehicles, which block not only our path to make a living, but also prevent effective, affordable, and long-lasting work demanded by the same people who hold so tightly to their delusional right to a public resource. Of course I charge less to clients, who provide off-street parking during their bathroom installations, than for people where you live. I also select which jobs to accept according to the possibility vs. impossibility of parking. Giving residents exclusive or top priority on business-hour, side-street parking is not democratic and not an effective way to run a city. It was never meant to be this way. Priorities changed under Bloomberg and will change more under DeBlasio. Phony parking placards were substantially eliminated. We offer bikes, glorified roach wagons, teachers, religions, doctors, and film crews special parking privileges. Expect city hall to promote more energy efficient and healthy existing homes and incentivize fewer new condominium towers. Parking for people who do this work and carry heavy things is necessary.
mozeeatupu | 11 years and 10 months ago
Street parking can’t be reserved or saved. Call DOT/311\.