Councilman David G. Greenfield’s deal to allow Boro Parkers to pre-pay meters on 13th and 18th Avenues goes into effect this week. Drivers will now be allowed to pay the meters up to four hours in advance at 3pm on Fridays for meters that are usually in effect until 7pm. This deal with the Department of Transportation (DOT) builds on Greenfield’s successful effort where he previously got the DOT to agree to pre-payment of meters on 16th Avenue. In addition, other areas in Boro Park and Midwood will be studied over the course of the next year at the request of Councilman Greenfield, Senator Simcha Felder and Assemblyman Dov Hikind. This deal is critical for many Shomer Shabbos drivers and their guests who cannot feed the meter once Shabbos begins on Friday. In the winter months, Shabbos begins as early as 4pm, preventing most residents from parking on the major avenues and exacerbating Boro Park’s parking crisis. This solution has added hundreds of new parking spots on Friday in Boro Park.
“My many thanks to the Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, the Department of Transportation, and the de Blasio administration for taking into account the unique needs of Orthodox Jewish New Yorkers. Being able to pre-pay the meter is vital for those who observe Shabbos and will really help alleviate the pre-Shabbos parking crunch in Boro Park. I also appreciate the steadfast support of New York State Senator Simcha Felder and Assembly Member Dov Hikind. I look forward to working with them to expand this to other neighborhoods,” said Councilman Greenfield.
“This reasonable accommodation is long overdue, and is a win-win for everyone. People will be able to park and the City doesn’t have to worry about losing any revenue. I thank the de Blasio Administration and Councilman Greenfield for all their efforts to make this happen,” said Senator Simcha Felder.
Greenfield is one of the premier advocates for drivers in New York City. This past July, Greenfield’s historic muni-meter legislation went into effect citywide. Greenfield’s law has three parts: it allows drivers to pre-pay New York City’s muni-meters up to one hour before the meter regulations go into effect, it forces meters to shut off and not accept payment when the driver is not required to pay for parking like in the evening and it shuts down muni-meters when it runs out of paper receipts. Additionally, Greenfield passed the law that gives drivers a 5-minute grace period before being ticketed for Muni-Meter violations, and passed a law that ended the impossible-to-remove neon window stickers for alternate-side parking violations.
Finally, Greenfield is a long-time advocate for accommodating the needs of Orthodox Jewish constituents. Greenfield and Community Board 12 have an agreement with the DOT to only do major road repairs in the summer to avoid traffic issues. Recently, Greenfield and the Community Board negotiated an end to 13th Avenue construction on Fridays and most recently Greenfield secured funding in the budget to open four community libraries on Sunday to serve the needs of the community.
(YWN Desk – NYC)
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One Response
As someone who lives off 13th avenue I think the DOT made Greenfield look like an idiot. From 39th street all the way down to 60th street 99% of stores are jewish owned I invite anyone to come to 13th ave after 4-5 Friday afternoon even in the summer there are almost no cars parked because the stores are closed. My question to Mr Greenfeld is if the whole reason for meters is to have a turn over in parking spaces so people can shop. Why not help the local neighbors who have difficulty finding parking on the side streets and get rid of the meters after 5 pm like on 16th Avenue.