COUNCIL PASSES HOME RULE RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING RESIDENTIAL PARKING PERMIT IN NYC

Here is a press release related to the city implementing community parking passes???? I don't like the idea at all. It might seem like a good idea to get easier parking outside your house, until you can't find parking when you drive to another neighborhood and are forced to park you car in a pricey lot. It's divisive and limits the free flow of people. It will hurt small business as well. The next step is to charge residents for parking permits and then businesses parking fees when they open businesses. Many small towns, villages and hamlets upstate use this to limit competition and tax small business. It’s a BAD idea and I hope more people voice their opinions. Why are we privatizing our public streets????

Gregory
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At its meeting on Thursday, November 3, 2011, the City Council approved a Home Rule Resolution, supported by Council Member Oliver Koppell, requesting the NYS Legislature to pass the Squardron/Millmman bill authorizing New York City to adopt a residential parking permit system.

A public hearing on the bill held by the Council Committee on State and Federal Legislation on Wednesday November 2nd generated enormous support for the plan. Many present testified that the lack of parking for residents in certain areas is a serious problem. They said that in addition to causing great inconvenience, the lack of residential parking has resulted in traffic hazards, congestion and air and noise pollution.

“This issue to very relevant to our community,” Koppell said, “because many commuters from Westchester and elsewhere, drive in, park their cars in our neighborhood and take Metro North, the subway or the Express bus to get to midtown, making it very difficult for local residents and local business owners to find a parking space. I believe a residential parking permit would alleviate the problems created by this practice by discouraging non-residents from using our community as a free parking lot for hours each day.”

If the state enacts the proposed legislation to authorize the city to create residential permits, the City Council, together with the Transportation Department and community boards, would decide how to introduce the permits, neighborhood by neighborhood.