The Sunnyside Municipal Parking Field (Google Maps)
June 1, 2018 By Nathaly Pesantez
The city is reserving a small number of parking spaces under the 7 train viaduct for car-share services as part of a citywide pilot launching next week, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced yesterday.
Four parking spots at the DOT’s Sunnyside Municipal Parking Field, running under the 7 train on Queens Boulevard between 32nd Place and 48th Street, will be set aside for customers using companies like Zipcar and Enterprise for their short-term car sharing services under the DOT CarShare pilot.
The two-year pilot begins on Monday, and includes a total of 230 on-street parking spaces being reserved in 14 neighborhoods by the city for the program, along with 55 spaces at 17 municipal parking facilities. Some spots in NYCHA developments are also set aside, with discounts available to NYCHA residents to use ZipCar’s services.
It is unclear if the four parking spots in the Sunnyside parking field will be concentrated in one area, or separated through the stretch of the facility. Zipcar, however, is the only company that will hold the car share-reserved parking spots at the site.
via DOT
Signs noting car-sharing regulations will be posted in all pilot locations, with some already in place for on-street parking zones. The reserved spots are only available to carshare vehicles, with non-carshare vehicles subject to fines and towing for parking in those spaces.
Nearby areas that are part of the program include Jackson Heights, with a total of eight spaces set aside for car-share services, and a combined 14 municipal parking spaces in some Astoria locations.
The city said it is launching the pilot to study if car sharing can relieve traffic congestion and provide a reliable, affordable travel alternative for New Yorkers living in transit deserts.
“For every vehicle in a car-share program, up to twenty households can forgo the need to own a car, fighting congestion and making our air cleaner,” Mayor de Blasio said in a statement.
The pilot has been months in the making, and came about with the public and the DOT looking at areas where car sharing could work through interactive online maps and interactions with DOT Street Ambassadors in pilot zones.
In all, some 309 parking spaces will be reserved for car sharing in the pilot. Both companies are each paying a meager $765 a year for all the off-street parking spots, along with the regular fees for municipal spots.
The rates for the Sunnyside parking field are currently at 25¢ per 15 minutes for a 4 hour limit, with a large number of spaces also offering 25¢ per 15 minutes for up to 14 hours, with a maximum charge of $8 in these spaces.
The Sunnyside parking field is also subject to another DOT proposal that includes converting dozens of the 14-hour parking spots to 4-hour spaces, and starting the meters at 5 a.m. instead of 8 a.m. Some parking spaces there would also be removed under the proposal.
The proposal, presented to Community Board 2 in November 2017, is still undergoing work.
To use the car-share service in this pilot, customers can apply directly to Zipcar and/or Enterprise CarShare for membership. Pricing is between $8 to $18 the hour, with membership fees between $40 to $70 a year, the city said.
The rides under the pilot are round-trip, meaning customers must return the cars to the same spot they picked them up from at the end of use. Customers, however, are free to park wherever is legal in between the session.
For more information on the pilot, include where the car-sharing sites are, visit the DOT’s CarShare portal.
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33 Comments
This makes total sense for the city. As it is the city is getting nothing for all the Lyft and Uber drivers dumping their (second) cars in the neighborhood reserving the spots for themselves. It is a business and should be treated as such. Commercial trucks don’t get to leave their vans parked on the residential streets. It’ll be interesting to see if the citywide parking permits plan goes through.
People really love to complain and get upset. But in reality the car share spots will be creating use for one parking space to dozens or even 100s of people that one selfish person is occupying now.
Go to most any other city. NYC is way behind the 8 ball. Philadelphia, DC, Portland, almost every block you see car-share.
It’s quite amazing people can even get upset about this. I nearly spit out the milk I was drinking.
Pay to play is right. Another DiBlasio corruption. Give away public space to private company. Surely some fee could be charged and benefit the city.
I agree that the companies should pay (and more than they do) but shouldn’t everyone who wants to park on the street?
That should be combined with much improved public transit and services like access-a-ride. I don’t want people stranded either.
“Parking dysfunction in residential neighborhoods isn’t caused by the lack of a permit system, it’s caused by giving away finite curb space for free.”
https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2018/04/26/parking-permits-wont-solve-new-yorks-parking-crunch-if-theyre-dirt-cheap/
Streetsblog is highly partisan. Everything they propose as truth must be taken with a huge grain of salt.
Oh, they’re totally partisan.
But they’re right on this one: Just because you buy a car doesn’t mean you should be allowed to leave it on public property for free–i.e. on-street parking.
Streetsblog is also correct about 99% of the time.
To other partisans, but they are a few.
One more reason for all residents of Sunnyside to inform our elected councilman and community board to not take away parking on 43 Ave or Skillman Avenue.
Usually use this parking area when I buy from and eat at businesses along Queens Blvd. , Greenpoint, 43rd Avenue and Skillman, after visiting cemetery. Really like the area. Convenient and friendly. Because of parking and great stores and great eats! Frequent area at least six times a month. Guess I will have to find other stores, bakeries and great places to eat. I would even “hang around” to find a place to park if one wasn’t available. Did not have to worry about receiving a ticket while shopping or eating. Very disappointing . Another nice area becoming inconvenient.
Its 4 spots out of hundreds in that parking area, I think you need to chill before declaring the neighborhood is going down the drain.
4 now 40 next year and more please shop on the south side we have spaces for you
Nah chill, DOT you’re destroying “the fabric of the neighborhood”
Where’s my entitled parking babies at? Get to work, and start complaining.
Setting aside public space to private companies. Sounds legit. Pay to play.
Setting aside public space for owners of private property–on street parking–sounds…
This convention has been built in from time immemorial. You think the city cared about curb space when it was reaping benefits from all the growth people with cars ignited? Nope, they advertised it. Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island are so car dependent it isn’t funny. When I tell the tale of TA adherents to people outside the city they are astounded at your sheer audacity. Your argument against cars parked by the curb is bottom of the barrel ridiculous. Anyone can do anything they want at the curb. It is public. Sleep there for all I care. Get dressed, have breakfast and kiss your spouse goodbye. It is unconventional but not against the law, so go for it. Giving public space to corporate entities as Bloomberg did and DiBlasio continued, is anathema to the word public.
NYC had the vast majority of its growth in the pre-car era.
Also, the area below the 7 train was originally for streetcars that continued down Queens Boulevard and over the Queensboro Bridge in the other direction.
Wouldn’t it be great to have proper mass transit that went down Queens Boulevard today considering that only 30% of Sunnyside/Woodside households even own a vehicle?
https://youtu.be/jEPwYcM1qTs?t=85
1. “We’ve been doing it” is no reason to keep doing it.
2. People sleeping on the curb? You mean like homeless people? That seems like the one thing that would upset people more than losing parking spaces to bike lanes.
3. I agree that public space should remain public. So let’sfree it from both corporations and individual property owners. They should both pay to keep their objects on public land, at a minimum.
Sounds….About right.
Lol. There’s no parking issues in Queens so let’s take care of a private company. Give them spots. No agenda there. The funny thing about liberals is how much they embrace big brother .
But setting aside public space for private vehicle owners is okay? If not, then we should get rid of all street parking.
Should we get rid of bike racks too? Those are in public sidewalk.
Bike racks save space by encouraging people to leave their cars at home. How many bike racks could you fit in one parking space?
Yea you tell em , nimrod.
PAAAAAAAAAAARKIIIIIIIIIIIING!
People’s lives, Carbie. People’s lives. No one worships parking spots, bikers just covet them. Silly. I think you all deserve your own highway, just not where it forces hardship on other people. Only the poor and or disabled will have to give up parking. People with good health and/or money will work through it or buy themselves a spot somewhere.
Who’s “you all”? I don’t even have a bike–or a car for that matter. I don’t have a dog in this fight. I’m just kind of amazed that people feel entitled to free on-street parking in a city where land is at a premium.
I hate corporate give-aways as much as anyone. But on street parking is a give-away too.
Who pays for the lost meter revenue and where does the money they get from these companies go?
Things worth considering:
* these car companies are renting the spots (so they’re paying something)
* parking in this area is very available during metered hours, never hard finding a spot during the day.
* This will only restrict space when parking is free in these areas
* Since only 30% of households in the Sunnyside/Woodside area own a vehicle, this could dramatically increase mobility.
* It’s also worth noting that many of the households that own cars have their own private driveways.
Your post is just like what I’d expect from city, canned responses with no back-up.
“Since only 30% of households in the Sunnyside/Woodside area own a vehicle, this could dramatically increase mobility.”
and
“many of the households that own cars have their own private driveways.”
Tell that to apartment buildings with 40+ units. Maybe your stats are based on per building not per actual apartment?
I didn’t say anything about limited parking, but what do they pay and where does the money go? I bet Sunnyside generates hell lot more in taxes, meters, tickets and other related revenue than places like woodside, Elmhurst, etc.. I just wonder where does the money go? Like NYC, paying highest taxes, riding on crappiest roads, that’s what sunnyside gets. I wish we were incorporated with a better local management.
Fair question, but is the idea that the hoped-for lower emissions better traffic flow and attendant health problems pay for themselves? Dunno.
King Bill de Blasio is an a$$hole.