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LIC street-cleaning maps revealed, parking remains an issue

street_sweeperJan. 19, 2013 By Bill Parry

The concept of introducing alternate side of the street parking to Long Island City proved to be contentious at a meeting held by Community Board 2 at PS 1 MOMA on Wednesday night.

The Department of Sanitation presented a detailed plan to introduce alternate side of the street parking rules for LIC to allow for street cleaning. The department stated that it planned to clean those streets between 45th and Borden Avenues, west of Jackson Avenue.

Advocates for street cleaning put forward the argument that LIC streets are dirty. They have claimed for years that the streets are filled with litter, waste and unsightly garbage and need to be swept. Last year, a petition–signed by hundreds of Hunters Point residents– called on city officials to introduce regularly scheduled street cleaning.

Meanwhile, several people at the meeting expressed their opposition to the plan, claiming that the adjacent building owners are keeping the streets clean and that alternative side of the street parking would make finding a parking spot a nightmare.

Several saw the proposal as a ploy by New York City to raise revenue through increased fines.

However, that contention drew a vehement denial from Joe Conley, chairman of Community Board 2. Conley said that this proposal was the result of the LIC community calling for the change.

Conley and Jimmy Van Bramer, the local councilman, called on the Department of Sanitation to come up with a proposal to address the complaints concerning dirty streets.

Eric Robertazzi, supervisor at the Department of Sanitation, presented the complex street-cleaning proposal that confused many attendees.

However, after clarification, the following street cleaning plans were proposed—which would take place on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Those streets south of 47th Road (to Borden Ave) would be swept from 9-10:30am, with the southern and eastern sides of the streets cleaned on Wednesday–and the northern and western sides of those streets cleaned on Thursday.

Meanwhile, those streets north of 47th Road (to 45th Ave.) would be swept from 11:30am -1pm, with the southern and eastern sides of the streets cleaned on Wednesday and the northern and western sides swept on Thursday.

Alternate side parking would be enforced during those hours.

Doreen Dwyer, who has lived in LIC for 60 years, expressed her outrage at the proposal. She said that people who are happy with the status quo are obviously not complaining.  She said that it really isn’t a proposal, it’s a done deal. “They have come up with maps, determined the streets. How can you say this isn’t going to happen?”

However, Van Bramer insisted that it is still a proposal and nothing has been finalized.

Meanwhile, Conley said, “We definitely have much more work to do on this and we’ll keep listening to your comments along the way.”

Proposed Plan by Sunnyside Post

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2 Comments

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Martin

I disagree with alternate side parking because I think it unnecessarily complicates the lives of LIC residents. If this proposal were to pass, when would the rules take effect?

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Doreen Dwyer

I don’t attend many of these meetings because I learned early on that what we get is nothing more than lip service to make it appear like all voices matter, when in fact, they have their own agenda all figured out.

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