Congestion Pricing and Resident Permit Parking
Regardless of your position on the Bloomberg administration’s proposal for congestion pricing in Manhattan, it’s not hard to imagine how the implementation of such a plan could have a very negative trickle-down effect for those parts of the outer boroughs that are both close to Manhattan and serviced by major subway lines. As Sheldon Silver…
Regardless of your position on the Bloomberg administration’s proposal for congestion pricing in Manhattan, it’s not hard to imagine how the implementation of such a plan could have a very negative trickle-down effect for those parts of the outer boroughs that are both close to Manhattan and serviced by major subway lines. As Sheldon Silver said, “Some of those areas will become parking lots for the people driving around looking for parking spots in order to avoid congestion pricing fees.” To counter such criticism, Bloomberg has has floated the idea of making resident-only permit parking available (for a modest annual fee) in neighborhoods like Park Slope, Downtown Brooklyn and Long Island City. Queens Councilman John Liu isn’t buying the idea. “It doesn’t necessarily improve the situation, it just shifts the boundary of contention,” said Liu. “It sounds great, but I think the implementation would be a hard stretch.” Of course, there’s also another reason that residents of certain neighborhoods may want parking permits soon: Atlantic Yards. Are you in favor of resident-only parking permits?
Bloomberg Eying Resident-only Parking Permits [NY Daily News]
Photo by new hobby
Great, 4:43, more classism. Many lower income people do not have charge cards, or even bank accounts, they depend on check cashing places and post office money orders to pay their bills. Unless the city declares “no one without a charge card/bank account can drive into Manhattan”, which sounds unconstitutional to me, they are going to have to allow for some kind of pay as you go system. Since most of your delivery people and other lower income jobs are going to be affected by this the most, this will have to be addressed. It’s getting more complicated…..
I work in a huge bank based in Lower Manhattan. So many of our senior mgmt types drive to work from Jersey and CT in big lexus or mercedes or SUVs. There are parking garages all over the place. These people must drive like two or more hourse each way in traffic and then they pay 400 or more a month just to day park (plus tolls, plus gas). I’m sure they make enough that it doesn’t matter. The company they work for should be held accountable to discourage the behavior, provide an alternative (like the google van) or pay some sort of carbon offset tax for on its employees behalf. The congestion pricing won’t eliminate these people.
Stand on corner in manhattan and watch the cars go by. If they’re not yellow cabs, they are mostly very expensive luxury cars.
The congestion pricing isn’t meant to get all cars off the streets. It’s an easy way to get a smaller number of cars off the street owned by poorer people. That said, it’s still a good thing.
‘I pox on you’
That’s too much.
Sterling, the plan will not involve toll booths it will involve monitors that will read license plates and then automatically charge the driver somehow.
It is scary in a Big Brother sort of way. People crossing the Brooklyn Bridge say, and heading up the FDR to go to Conn. or NJ will not be charged.
Bottom line, I concur that it is simply a new tax. It will do little or nothing to lessen congestion.
4:17- Put it in a garage. You’d have no problem find one. Yes. There are two big ones on Union Street. There are lots of day garages up and down pacific street. There’s another big one on Flatbush near the park cirle, and also one on Union near the park circle. There are smaller ones on side streets running all the way up 7th and 8th Ave. There are tons of listings on Craigslist for private garages in the south slope and windsor terrace. There are empty lots where people rent parking spots.
If you’re a car owning Pork Slopper. Pay your 300/month for indoor parking or 150/month for outdoor parking, or 200/month for your craigslist ad parking. Get your car off the street (and take care of it better).
This is an easy conversation. If you live in park slope and you own a car, even if you have kids, this is a luxury purchase and lifestyle. Get your luxury item off the street. If you can’t afford to park the sucker, get rid of it.
If you’re someone who drive to park slope and leaves your car there all day, then I hope you pay more. I pox on you.
AL 2:16,
Thousands of NYers also have 3+ young children, but still manage to get their children to daycare of school without a car. What makes you so special?
Whiner.
Here’s something else to consider: Many people who drive to work, or at least closer to Manhattan, before taking a train, come from the outer parts of the boroughs, where a car is a neccessity, mostly due to the fact that public transportation is very limited. Since we are getting more and more successful at pushing the middle and lower class working stiffs out there, as they can’t afford to live anywhere else, the city, in their vast wisdom, conveniently forgot to extend the subways, or run new and more bus routes to help these people get to work.
Take the people who live out near Starrett City, just as an example. There is a lot of new housing going up near the Gateway Mall. There is virtually no subway service out there, and only a couple of bus lines. Is it no wonder all of those people have a car in the driveway, or every street is full of parked cars on both sides? As several people suggested above – let’s improve the public transportation BEFORE we implement restrictions on driving or parking.
Another thing no one has mentioned. All of these people circling looking for parking to take a train in from Harlem, central Brooklyn, the South Bronx, and every other nabe that is close to a reliable train line, are adding fumes and pollution to neighborhoods which already have abnormally high asthma rates among children. This is not going to help. And if you don’t care about lower income kids’ health now, you will care when their medical care costs are passed on to you in the form of higher health insurance costs and taxes. And not just the kids’ health either. Everyone will suffer.
This plan has not been thought out well. How are they going to implement it? Put a ring of toll booths around the city, on every north/south street? How long will it take to build toll booths, how many buildings are going to be grabbed by eminent domain to build toll facilities? Will the subways and buses be improved and increased? Will buildings in Brooklyn, Harlem and the Bronx and Queens be grabbed to make parking garages? Is there a plan? When does the other shoe drop?
i think most of you have neglected to realize that the congestion pricing is not simply to less congestion.
it’s about helping reduce carbon dioxide emissions along with the city’s latest effort to lead pretty much the u.s. (along with california) on boosting efforts to become a more eco-friendly society.
for those of you in park slope…you should be more supportive of this than the most as you’re known to be so eco-friendly. getting unecessary traffic and cars off the road is a good thing for everyone and whatever helps (parking permits etc) would be better than continuing to clog the air.
4:14,
I don’t think your solution of all brooklyn residents would make the ladies and gentlemen of Brooklyn Heights very happy. They don’t want any shmutz from outside the neighborhood polluting their public streets during the day.