WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES SEPTEMBER 14, 2017 19
Did a lawmaker stop the city’s carshare pilot in Ridgewood?
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An elected offi cial from Ridgewood is apprehensive of a carshare pilot
program coming to her district.
Old Watches Can Be
Worth A Fortune In Cash!
BY ANTHONY GIUDICE
AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@A_GIUDICEREPORT
As the NYC Department of Transportation
(DOT) looks to roll out
a carsharing pilot program in a
host of Queens communities, one local
lawmaker has told the agency to hit the
brakes on its plan for Ridgewood.
After DOT representatives presented
their carshare pilot plan at
the June Community Board 5 (CB 5)
Transportation and Public Transit
meeting, Assemblywoman Catherine
Nolan wrote a letter to Mayor Bill de
Blasio, outlining her opposition to the
plan, specifi cally citing that she was
not briefed, or even informed of the
plan, before it was presented.
“This proposal will severely impact
my community and I was not even
given notice, let alone a discussion of
the serious issues involved, before it
was made public,” she wrote in the July
10 letter.
To some, it seems as though Nolan’s
letter had a convincing eff ect
on the DOT. Links to the Ridgewood
carsharing plan have been removed
from DOT’s feedback portal.The portal
allows residents to make suggestions
on where they would like to see the
carsharing spots located.
It is not known, however, if Nolan’s
opposition to the plan had anything to
do with the neighborhood’s removal
from the website.
“I have several concerns about the
inclusion of Ridgewood in the carshare
pilot program,” Nolan said in a
statement. “It is already very diffi cult
to find parking in our Ridgewood
community and taking away many
spots would be counterproductive. In
addition, allowing a private car share
company to use portions of the public
street could be perceived as subsidy
of that company at the taxpayers’
expense. I have recently met with
Commissioner Trottenberg and representatives
of the NYC Department
of Transportation to share these concerns
and I look forward to continuing
this conversation as we talk through
these very important issues. I remain
open to a limited pilot program but
want more community input. We need
to hear from residents of Ridgewood
as to how they feel.”
A DOT spokesperson has confi rmed
that they are moving ahead with other
carshare locations, as they continue to
discuss the pilot program with Ridgewood
shareholders.
The plan aims to use dedicated onstreet
parking for carshare vehicles —
such as Zipcar, Car2Go and Enterprise
Carshare — in the hopes that residents
will begin using these cars and either
give up their personal vehicle or
postpone purchasing a vehicle.
DOT examined carshare pilot programs
from other cities across the country
and found that over time, people did
give up their personal cars or held off
on the purchase of a vehicle. The agency
also charges that since less people own
cars aft er using the carshare program,
more parking spaces would be available
for residents who do own cars.
The pilot program in Ridgewood
would require DOT to use 10 parking
spots in the area bordered by
Woodbine Street, Myrtle Avenue,
St. Felix Avenue and Irving Avenue,
for the carshare vehicles at five
different locations, of which residents
could go on the DOT website
and select the best places for them.
This is what has Nolan worried.
The assemblywoman would rather
see the carshare vehicles stored at
an off-street facility rather than on
the streets of her district.
“I am concerned that a private car
share company would use public
city street parking spots,” Nolan told
the DOT in her original letter. “This
would create a situation where a private
company would be subsidized
at the taxpayers’ expense. I would
propose to require these car sharing
companies to provide their own off -
street parking like other automobile,
rental or car service companies.”