During his campaign early last year, Councilman David G. Greenfield called on the Department of Transportation (DOT) to implement a common-sense solution to the problem of drivers not being able to feed parking meters when Shabbos starts early on Friday afternoons in the winter. As background, Brooklyn streets with normal parking regulations require meters to be fed regularly from 8am through 7pm Monday through Friday. This poses a difficulty for observant Jewish drivers on Friday who are prohibited by Jewish law from feeding the meters on Shabbos. In the winter months, when Shabbos begins as early as 4pm, hundreds of metered parking spots in Boro Park are left empty because the mostly observant Jewish residents won’t park there for fear of a parking ticket. Since meters are not in effect on Saturday, the only challenge has been for those relatively few hours between 5pm and 7pm – after an hour’s worth of quarters expires.

Today, Greenfield is announcing that the DOT has agreed to install Muni-Meters on the entire metered stretch of 16th Avenue in Boro Park from 44th Street to 54th in a pilot program. New parking signs will end metered parking requirements on Friday at 5pm instead of the usual 7pm for the rest of the week. By ending metered parking at 5pm, Shabbos observant individuals will always be able to place an hour’s worth of quarters in the meter as Shabbos never begins before 4pm. This arrangement works well for a community where virtually all of the stores close before 5pm on Friday therefore alleviating the need for metered parking.

In a February 2010 letter to DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, Greenfield explained that the community’s observant Jewish drivers faithfully feed their parking meters on Friday afternoons between October and March, when the sun sets relatively early.  He added, however, that many who pay for parking up to the minute Shabbos begins risk tickets after they are no longer able to continue feeding the meter after the start of Shabbos.  Greenfield urged in the letter that Sadik-Khan “seriously consider the needs of this community, and work with us toward a quick and effective solution to a unique problem.” After a year and a half of negotiations, Councilman Greenfield and Commissioner Sadik-Khan have finally finalized the details of a pilot program that will allow Shabbos observant residents to take advantage of hundreds of parking spots in Boro Park.

“This is a great step towards solving a problem that has plagued thousands of drivers in Boro Park for years,” explained Councilman Greenfield.  “On behalf of the thousands of Boro Park drivers who will now have approximately 150 new parking spots in the heart of Boro Park on Erev Shabbos, I thank Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Commissioner Janette Sadik-Kahn and her staff at the DOT for working with me to solve the Erev Shabbos parking problem.”

The program is a pilot by the Department of Transportation. Councilman Greenfield explained that after a period of review he is hopeful that the program will expand to all the major metered avenues in Boro Park.

(YWN Desk – NYC)