‘IT’S GETTING REALLY BAD’
Brooklynites call to suspend metered parking amid coronavirus outbreak
BY JESSICA PARKS
As New Yorkers quarantine
themselves to help stop the
spread of coronavirus, more
and more parked cars are fi lling
up neighborhood streets.
With no end to metered parking
in site, southern Brooklyn
residents and politicians are
calling on the city to suspend
the service, and allow for longterm
parking on main roads
during the statewide stay-athome
order.
“Parking is horrendous
around here,” said Mike Kieran
of his Bensonhurst
neighborhood. “And now that
everybody is staying home
and more people are calling
in sick, it’s getting really bad
around here.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio halted
alternate-side parking for a
week starting March 17 and
tacked on another week on
March 24, stressing that the
city will assess the situation
on a weekly basis. He has not
moved to do the same for parking
meters.
COURIER L 18 IFE, APRIL 3-9, 2020
“We’re going to look at the
situation week-by-week; we
might do more extensive time
periods depending on what
we see,” the mayor said. “But
I think the thing to expect
right now is we’ll try and deal
with alternate side in chunks
of time, at least a week at a
time.”
Kieran lives off of 18th Avenue,
a main road with metered
parking and stretches of
closed businesses whose designated
spots could easily be
transitioned into long-term
parking.
“The pharmacies and grocery
stores are only on certain
blocks,” he told Brooklyn Paper.
“And on the rest of the
blocks, you have about a halfmile
of closed stores.”
Southern Brooklyn Assemblymembers
Nicole Malliotakis
and William Colton have
also spoken out in support of
suspending metered parking,
claiming the measure will
help keep people indoors.
“Similar to alternate-side
parking, which was suspended
because we want to encourage
people to stay indoors, it
makes sense to suspend parking
meters so people don’t
need to leave their homes or
workplaces to feed the meter
during such a critical time in
our city,” Mallotakis said in a
statement.
Colton launched an online
petition on March 26 calling
for the suspension and has
garnered nearly 200 signatures
as of Friday, where he
said the city should not be
charging New Yorkers to park
their cars at the same time
they are being ordered to remain
home.
“We are in a crisis, the
city should not be worried
about making money, peoples’
lives are at stake,” Colton
said in a statement. “The
severe measures taken, to increase
social distancing and
to slow the spread of Coronavirus
is futile. If people still
need to go out to feed meters
or to move their cars to fi nd
parking spots makes no purpose
of the Governor’s executive
order.”
Meanwhile, Kieran recommended
the city make a
change in the parking regulation
sooner than later to avoid
any potential neighborly disputes.
“The parking situation is
going to get really tense,” he
said. “I mean right now, we
are seeing people fi ghting over
toilet paper.”
The Mayor’s Offi ce and the
Department of Transportation
did not respond to requests for
comment.
Brooklynites are calling for the temporary suspension of metered parking
as New Yorkers are ordered to stay at home. Photo by Ben Verde
THE CITY CLERK
OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
NOTICE OF SPECIAL ELECTION
Pursuant to provisions of Section 25(b)(1) of the Charter of the City of New
York, notice is hereby given that a special election will be held in the
Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings on, Tuesday, April 28, 2020,
between the hours of 6:00 AM and 9:00 PM for the purpose of electing a
candidate for the 37th Councilmanic District. Only registered voters in this
district are eligible to vote.
For any information on whether you are eligible to vote or where your poll site
is located, please call (212) V-0-T-E-N-Y-C. TDD for the hearing-impaired is
(212) 487-5496.
The City Clerk of the City of New York
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