Photos via Getty Images
Feb. 25, 2025 By Shane O’Brien.
Council Member Julie Won has successfully introduced legislation to suspend alternate side parking on Losar, also known as Tibetan New Year.
The date of Losar varies each year according to the Tibetan lunisolar calendar. This year, Losar is celebrated from Feb. 28 to March 14, with main celebrations taking place on the first three days. Losar celebrations typically extend for several days, with preparations beginning weeks in advance.
Alternate side parking will be suspended on Feb. 28, the first day of Losar, under the newly passed legislation.
Won welcomed the recent passage of the Losar Bill Intro.100 in the City Council, stating that the law does not only suspend alternate side parking on Tibetan New Year but also increases civic and political power for Tibetan and Himalayan groups across the city.
In a video posted on social media alongside the Tibetan Community of NY&NJ, Won said the Losar street parking bill would help educate and raise awareness about the Himalayan and Tibetan Buddhist communities.
Won’s district, which includes Woodside and Sunnyside, is home to one of the largest Tibetan and Himalayan communities in New York City, with Tibetan businesses, community centers, and religious institutions playing a vital role in the area.
The bill, which had 42 co-sponsors, including 39 council members and three borough presidents, was unanimously passed by the council and represents a celebration of immigrants living in the city at a time of fear and uncertainty, Won said.
The Tibetan Community Center of NY & NJ in Woodside. Via Google Maps
“Now, over 61,000 Tibetan Buddhists in our district and across New York City can celebrate their most important holiday without having to worry about moving their cars or getting a parking ticket,” Won said in a statement.
“At a time when there is so much fear and uncertainty as a result of federal immigration policies, our bill sends a message that we support, recognize, and celebrate immigrants who live in our sanctuary city—including those who have sought refuge from persecution in their home country like the Tibetan community.”
Alternate Side Parking, a key component of New York City’s street cleaning system, typically requires residents to move their vehicles on designated days.
A financial impact report carried out by the City Council has found that the city will forego approximately $450,000 due to the suspension of alternate side parking on Losar due to a loss of fines associated with alternate parking regulations.
NBC New York previously found that the city loses hundreds of thousands of dollars for every day that alternate side parking is suspended.
The new law adds Losar to the list of holidays recognized for alternate side parking suspensions, joining Christmas, Eid Ul-Fitr, and Diwali as officially acknowledged cultural and religious observances.
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3 Comments
Julie Won is a Losar!
Congratulations to those who celebrate Losar for recognition of their holiday.
As for the topic of alternate side of the street parking: Alternative side of the street parking is not being taken seriously in Woodside in recent times by vehicle owners nor by the City of New York. Perhaps this is a problem throughout Queens and NYC but I have witnessed it repeatedly in Woodside because that’s where I live. In years gone by, the vast majority of vehicles were moved before the appropriate time, the street sweeper would come through and clean the gutters and then vehicles would return usually an hour and a half later. Occasionally one or two vehicles would not move and there was a possibility of a ticket but the streets, by and large, were getting cleaned. Recently, I have through casual observation, seen lines of cars, vans and trucks whose owners aren’t bothering to move them and Traffic Enforcement Agents are no where to be found. The street sweeper does come through, in fact usually twice in the ninety minute period, but because there are so many parked vehicles the gutters are no where near getting cleaned. This process is repeating itself week after week after week, etc. If the City of New York wants to maintain a basic level of cleanliness it needs to see to it the streets are getting cleaned properly and regularly – alternate side of the street parking must be enforced for this to happen.
Another Downtown Julie Won special, why another holiday added to an overloaded calendar aren’t clean streets more important that appeasing another group of people? To suspend alternate side of the parking, means dirtier streets, lost revenue for the city but why would she care, she probably lives in a building in Sunnyside but has a weekend hideaway upstate that she bolts to whenever she can, and the neighborhood is dirtier and homeowners must deal with accumulated garbage in thc gutter and/or the fines from Sanitation inspectors. Thanks to Julie Won another wrong decision.