Edgecombe Avenue Parking: A Need for Additional Legal Parking Spaces
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Edgecombe Avenue Parking: A Need for Additional Legal Parking Spaces
With the population of the area growing each year and the removal of a large parking garage, our community is experiencing a parking shortage. The east side of Edgecombe Avenue between 155th & 150th Streets (a one way street) is the only area in the neighborhood that does not allow parking. The purpose of this paper is to show that Community Board 9’s Transportation Committee should approve a change so that parking is permitted on both sides of the street. The current parking restrictions have created an undue burden on the residents, increase the risk to personal safety and with the upcoming Sugar Hill Project parking will become even more problematic in the neighborhood.
Parking on the east side of the street was briefly allowed for a few months back in 2009 but was subsequently revoked. The decision was made at a community board meeting that was not fully communicated to the residents. The board should reconsider since several factors have changed in the past two years and not all viewpoints were expressed at the 2009 meeting. Every other street in the surrounding area permits parking on both sides. There are no city ordinances published regarding this issue. Josh Orzeck, the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Community Board Liaison stated “In order to make a change, the residents must make a proposal to the community board and the community board will in turn instruct the DOT to make the change” (J. Orzeck, personal communication, October 9, 2011).
In December 2010, the parking garage at 155th and St. Nicholas Avenue closed due to the sale of the building for the Sugar Hill Project. The three story garage provided over 100 parking spaces to area residents and visitors. Now that the garage is closed, all of those cars park on the streets making parking more difficult since two other closest remaining parking garages in the area have waiting lists (M. Phillips, personal communication, October, 2011). Since there is already a parking shortage, residents are worried that soon even fewer parking spots will be available because of a new housing development in the area. The Sugar Hill Project construction is about to start (the scaffolding has already been put up), and the parking in front of that building will most likely be restricted due to the construction on the site which will only add to the problem. Also, as noted in the project proposal, “300 new construction jobs” (Baxter & Rodriquez, 2010, p.1) will be created. This is sure to bring construction vehicles and vehicles for some of the workers to the area. Once the construction is finished, the proposal mentions that “100-125 permanent jobs” are anticipated to be created for the site (Baxter & Rodriquez, 2010, p.1) and the project will “provide 124 permanent, rent-stabilized affordable apartments for individuals and families” (Baxter & Rodriquez, 2010, p.2) which will also draw more vehicles to the area. Not to mention the unknown number of cars that will come as a result of the Children’s Museum on the site.
Some people object to parking on both sides of the street and see it as is dangerous but most residents argue that having cars parked on both sides of the street is actually safer for a few reasons. Since the most difficult time to find parking is after 7:00pm, this forces drivers to park at distances that are several blocks or further away from home and walk home in the dark. Due to alternate side parking rules, drivers frequently go out very early in the morning at or before dusk to move their cars. Even when drivers found parking far away, they usually had to drive around for twenty to thirty minutes or more in order to find an available spot.
Crime has increased in the 30th Precinct recently. More specifically, rape increased 20% and robbery increased 11% in the past two years (Comp Stat, 2011). Walking long distances in the dark increases the risk to residents’ safety. In 2010, one woman from Edgecombe Avenue was assaulted and robbed on her way home from parking at night (C. Robbins, personal communication, April, 2011). Also, a senior citizen had his car broken into when he was forced to park it in a non-residential area (J. Johnson, personal communication, November, 2010). In 2009, some residents requested that the parking be revoked because of safety reasons. One safety concern was having cars parked on the curve. This can be addressed by starting the parking at a safe distance from the curve. There was also a concern about child safety since we have so many children on the block. According to the DOT, “having a more narrow driving area would results in calmer traffic” (J. Orzeck, personal communication, October 9, 2011), i.e. traffic tends to slow down when they don’t have as much room to speed. The residents can request to have a speed bump placed closer to the curve and to have child caution signs put up. Due to the reduction in available parking spaces in our area and the additional vehicles expected because of the Sugar Hill Project, the east side of Edgecombe Avenue should be open to parking. The residents would be better served by the Community Board and will be safer after this change is made. The Community Board should reconsider its 2009 decision to restrict parking on the east side of Edgecombe Avenue and instruct the DOT to install new parking signs.

References
Baxter, E. & Rodriguez, A. (2010). The Sugar Hill Project [PDF document]. Retrieved from http://www.cb9m.org/docs/Sugar_Hill_Project_ Guide.pdf
CompStat 30th Precinct Volume 18 Number 39. (2011) [Crime Statistic Report for week ending 10/2/2011]. Retrieved from http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/downloads/pdf/ crime_statistics/cs030pct.pdf