"Good morning and welcome to today's hearing of the City Council Transportation Committee. I am Ydanis Rodriguez, the Chair of this Committee. Before we proceed, I would like to recognize my colleagues who are here with us today...
"Today we are hearing a series of bills related to one of the most common issues many of us hear about from our constituents: parking. We cannot ignore that the way our City treats parking has a big impact on the efficiency and fairness of our transportation system at large. We are interested today in exploring a wide variety of ways that we might be able to make parking in our city a little easier and more fair for New Yorkers.
"We are hearing three bills related to establishing a residential parking permit system in New York City. Intro. 857, which I have introduced, would direct DOT to establish a residential parking permit program throughout the city. Residential parking permits have been successful in many other cities, including San Francisco, Washington, DC, and right across the river in Hoboken. So many of our neighborhoods are overrun with people from other places taking up parking spaces for a wide variety of reasons, such using neighborhood streets as free park-and-ride lots for mass transit. By limiting parking in certain residential neighborhoods to verified residents, we cannot only make it even just a little easier for residents to find parking in their own neighborhood but also reduce the number of cars driving around looking for a spot, thereby making our streets safer and less congested. Intro. 848, sponsored by Council Member Levine, and Intro. 898, sponsored by Council Member Moya, would similarly authorize the creation of residential parking programs in Northern Manhattan and East Elmhurst, respectively.
"I have also introduced two bills that aim to make parking more fair and sensible in a variety of different circumstances. Intro. 910 would allow people to park their vehicles during alternate side parking once the street sweeper has passed and there is no longer a need to keep the curb clear. This is a common sense change that happens in other cities. It is my hope that, especially as technology has quickly improved in recent years, we can finally make this happen. I have also introduced Intro. 332, which would restore parking privileges that members of the press had traditionally enjoyed essential to covering the news and informing the public. It is their right to be able to report the news. We have witnessed how the press and freedom of speech have been under stack recently and we have also witnessed how important they have been in protecting the truth. If passed, this bill will allow photographers who must carry bulky equipment to the site of newsworthy events, sometimes at a moment's notice, do their job keeping all of us informed.
Today we are also hearing a package of bills aimed at combatting what has come to be known as placard abuse. The extent of this problem is obvious, whether we see it first-hand on the streets of our districts or on our Twitter accounts. People who use fake parking placards, or who use their legitimate placards to try to get away with parking where they are not supposed to, are in effect stealing City resources and unfairly taking advantage of the system at the expense of everyone else who follows the rules. Too often these individuals also pose a safety hazard, such as when they block fire hydrants and crosswalks, or interfere with pedestrian flow when they block sidewalks, not to mention the impact on congestion. And we all know that enforcement is too often lacking, with drivers who put items as simple, and as unofficial, as vests and hats on their dashboards sometimes being allowed to park wherever they want without fear of any consequences.
"Intro. 927, sponsored by Speaker Johnson, would direct the creation of an electronic tracking system that would allow traffic enforcement agents to verify that validity of a placard in real time. This could not only cut down on the effectiveness of fake placards but also limit people's ability to improperly share placards and park beyond the scope of their assigned placard. Intro. 932, sponsored by Council Member Chin, would require that City employees who abuse their placards have them revoked. Proposed Intro. 596-A, sponsored by Council Member Williams, would increase the penalty for using a fake placard. Intro. 314, which I have introduced, would require quarterly reporting on placard abuse and Intro. 942, sponsored by Council Member Koo, would require DOT to publish a comprehensive plan evaluating the current placard program in order to make sure that placards are being issued only when necessary.
"Intro. 887, introduced by Council Member Gjonaj, would require that communities be informed and consulted whenever potentially disruptive changes will be made to their streets, whether the changes are permanent or temporary. DOT is already required to perform similar notification before changes involving bike lanes, parking meters, and major transportation projects.
"Council Member Deutsch has introduced Intro. 84, which would require DOT to post information about when school zone parking regulations are in effect for a particular school, in an attempt to clarify a common source of confusion for motorists. And finally, Intros 445 and 925, also sponsored by Council Member Deutsch, would suspend Alternate Side Parking in areas where film shoots and street resurfacing limit the normal amount of available parking.
"I would now like to invite the sponsors of these bills to deliver opening statements..."
[Statements by CMs Deutsch, Williams, Gjonaj, Levine, Moya, Chin, and Koo.]
"I would like to welcome the representatives of the Administration who are here with us today. Thank you for being here. I now ask the Committee Counsel to administer the affirmation and then invite you to deliver your testimony..."
