New parking regulation signs were installed by the Department of Transportation last month in Broad Channel. Shortly after, residents removed and discarded themParking is a scarcity in many parts of New York City and Broad Channel is no exception. For this reason, residents there are furious that the Department of Transportation is attempting to take away about 50 percent of what little parking is available.
The agency installed a number of signs last month prohibiting parking on one side of certain narrow streets that have less than 10 feet of open road through which fire trucks and other emergency vehicles can safely pass.
In doing this, the DOT would effectively remove about half of Broad Channel residents’ parking options, forcing them to park in Howard Beach or the Rockaways — both of which already have parking shortages, according to Congressman Anthony Weiner, who has asked the DOT to reverse its decision.
It appeared that the DOT had won this round of a decades-old battle with Broad Channel residents over the imposition of parking regulations, but the victory was short lived. Not even two weeks after poles and signs were installed, some of them went missing.
Although there have not been outright accusations, Broad Channel residents are unofficially known to be the cause; if they disapprove of a sign’s location, they take it down or remove its pole, according to resident Barbara Toborg, who admitted her own son had done so about 15 years ago.
Not much has changed since — at least with regard to signage removal. Resident Kathleen Kelly said her mother watched as one pole was yanked out of the drying cement barely two hours after it was put in.
“They’re almost militant about these things,” said Thomas — a resident who only wanted to be identified by his first name — about his neighbors. Likening the unlawful sign removal to “civil protest,” he noted that residents become frustrated when the DOT suddenly cracks down on parking because, usually, “people just turn a blind eye to this.”
Officials from the DOT and the 100th Precinct denied this. Transportation department spokesman Edward Timbers said the street-width regulation has been in effect in Broad Channel for about 40 years, and that enforcement is the responsibility of the Police Department. Officer Joe Roberts of the 100th Precinct said regulations are enforced wherever there are signs stating that they exist.
A number of Broad Channel residents insisted they have unspoken agreements with some city agencies that understand their extenuating circumstances, which include frequent flooding caused by high tides.
Noting Broad Channel’s unique geographic location, Toborg said she believes “a common sense solution should be ... worked out between the city and community. As long as fire and sanitation vehicles can get down our streets, why criminalize behavior unnecessarily?”
For the DOT, location is irrelevant: a citywide law applies to all city residents, regardless of their individual circumstances. The bottom line, Timbers said, is that emergency vehicles need 10 feet of road.
Those vehicles already get their space, according to Thomas and Toborg, who each noted that Broad Channel residents are savvy when it comes to parking. They don’t park on both sides of narrow streets — and not because a sign tells them they can’t — Toborg said, using 6th Road as an example. Also, they often park their cars half on the sidewalk to create more room on the street.
So far, these techniques have worked. The Department of Sanitation has not had any trouble getting trucks down narrow streets with parking on one side only, according to spokeswoman Kathy Dawkins. Additionally, because DOS is aware of the unique situation in Broad Channel, it collects trash during the day, when residents are at work and fewer cars are parked on the street.
Firefighters from Engine Co. 331 and Ladder Co. 173 in Howard Beach, who respond to calls in Broad Channel several times a week, said they haven’t had problems either, but admitted the streets can get tight and navigating them in an 8-foot-wide truck can slow response time.
The Broad Channel Volunteer Fire Department has never had any problems, according to volunteer Fred Grey, and “for (the DOT) to take away parking is unnecessary.” It’s also a waste of time and money: as often as the agency installs signs, they will “go missing.”
Timbers said there is no cost to the city for the installation of signs, which is covered under a borough-wide contract that includes all installation and maintenance costs.
That doesn’t mean the DOT should just keep replacing signs, Thomas said. The least the agency could do is reuse the “missing” signs. The problem, though, lies in locating them after they’ve been removed.
A recent drive through Broad Channel’s narrow roads revealed that recently-installed poles had been removed from at least three streets. Following closer examination of those streets, this reporter discovered three brand-new poles with brand-new signs strewn on a grassy knoll, hidden beneath tall weeds and an abandoned rowboat.
