Sweeping changes for motorists

City offers to reform alternate side street cleaning regulations

By Manny Grossman

When it comes to alternate side of the street parking, we all know the drill. Wakeup, get out of the house before you get a ticket, hunt for a space, find one (or not), repeat the next day.

That may soon change.

A new plan recently announced by the city Department of Sanitation rolls back the number of days the rules are in effect from four days a week to two.

There is one catch, however. According to Sanitation spokeswoman Kathy Dawkins, to be considered for the rollback, each "section in a district must have a scorecard rating of 90 or better."

Every section in community board 8 already does. For fiscal year 2007, section one, which includes Kingsbridge and Kingsbridge Heights, scored a 93.5. Section two, which includes Van Cortlandt Village, scored a 98.7 and Section 3, which includes all of Riverdale, scored a perfect 100. The average score for the first three months in 2008 is 97.3.

The plan will soon be implemented in Community Board 6 in Brooklyn. District Manager Craig Hammerman says that he has heard nothing but raves about it, and that the "anticipation is palpable."

Board 8 Chairman Tony Cassino, speaking for himself and not for the board, said, "This is one of the best ideas I have heard in a long time."

"People deserve a break, and if you can reduce the unnecessary movement of cars without a real impact to the cleanliness of our streets, we not only give weary motorists a break, but we cut down on emissions, double parking and traffic."

Brad Trebach, chair of the traffic and transportation committee, says he thinks it "makes sense to consider fine-tuning the parking rules on some residential streets." But he feels that it requires more study because streets near schools, parks and commercial districts should keep the current rules.

He also believes that if the scores drop below 90 percent, the old rules should be reinstated.

"It's all about finding the proper balance between the competing interests of parking and street cleaning," he said.

Saul Scheinbach, who chairs the board's environment and sanitation committee, said, "It's really a great idea." He touted the environmental benefits of the plan, saying people go on "useless trips," just because of the need to move the car. He said fewer trips by diesel-spewing street sweepers would have a positive impact on air quality as well.

"This hasn't been looked at for 40 years," he said. "Lots of places don't need cleaning twice a week. It just doesn't get that dirty."

Residents of the notoriously parking-poor Amalgamated Houses in Van Cortlandt Village were very pleased to hear the news. Mike Schiff said, "I can easily say the streets running through here are some of the cleanest in the Bronx. Alternate side of the street parking is not only unnecessary, it's also a burden on residents who have to constantly move their cars, deal with double parking, and worry about parking tickets."

George Pabon, a security guard for the Amalgamated, said that he often sees people arguing over spots or because they were double parked in. He feels it's a great idea to relax the rules.

Joanne Smith, navigating around a double-parked car to park in a legal space, said that the plan would reduce stress. She was headed for a job interview at St. Patrick's Home for the Aged. She likes the idea of working there, she said, "but not with this parking."

Mr. Hammerman pointed out that the changes didn't come without a fight. "We put in 20 years of advocacy. We filed petitions with tens of thousands of names. We had letter writing campaigns. We tried every way to make this happen."

"We learned that persistence pays," he said.

Ms. Dawkins explained that to be considered, the community board should "prepare a proposal for the Department of Sanitation to review." Given the fact that the district meets the main criteria, she said, "we would consider taking a look at current street cleaning regulations."

Mr. Cassino said, "You have to give the city a lot of credit. Alternate side of the street rules are a sacred cow."

Mr. Scheinbach and Mr. Trebach are planning to hold a joint public meeting of their committees on Nov. 20, at 7:30 p.m., at the community board office, 5676 Riverdale Ave., to discuss the issue further.

This is part of the October 25, 2007 online edition of The Riverdale Press.

Have an opinion on this matter? We'd like to hear from you. Click here.