By Manny Grossman

The Amalgamated Houses in Van Cortlandt Village would be an ideal test site for reducing the number of alternate side of the street parking days in the Northwest Bronx, according to Community Board 8 Chairman Tony Cassino.

Community Board 8 has not officially endorsed the Amalgamated for a pilot program, and Mr. Cassino pointed out he is speaking for himself. But the community in Van Cortlandt Village has emerged as a prime candidate, he said, because "it gets high marks for cleanliness and is geographically a fairly self-contained area."

The announcement comes as Mr. Cassino, along with fellow board members Saul Scheinbach and Brad Trebach, gear up for a series of public meetings on the issue. The first will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 20, at 7:30 p.m., at the Board 8 office, 5676 Riverdale Ave.

As reported in The Press two weeks ago, all of Community Board 8 is eligible for the reductions via a new citywide program enacted by the city Department of Sanitation. Communities that score 90 or above on a "cleanliness scorecard" are eligible to apply. In 2007, the Riverdale-Kingsbridge area averaged a 97.4 rating, and Van Cortlandt Village, where the Amalgamated is located, scored a 98.7. The plan will soon be implemented in Community Board 6 in Brooklyn.

If enacted, sweepers would clean each side of the street only once a week.

Parking difficulties at the Amalgamated are notorious. Originally built in the 1920s, the planned community's streets were not built for the number of cars that now park there. Every night, drivers can be seen idling, sometimes for up to an hour, waiting for a legal parking space, only to return the next morning to be blocked in by a double-parked car.

"This is a topic that garners enormous public interest," said Mr. Trebach, who chairs the board's traffic and transit committee. "Many people have already approached me to express excitement and eagerness about reforming the rules."