New York City’s Department of Transportation plans to remove hundreds of city-subsidized parking spaces under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. DOT has proposed to use some of the space for a narrow two-way protected bike lane and some minor pedestrian improvements.
The plan would remove 680 free parking spaces between Apollo St. and Metropolitan Ave. and replace them with a bike path, expanded pedestrian space, and 400 parking meters.…
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Greenpointers has covered Greenpoint & Williamsburg since 2007 — community boards, rezoning fights, local businesses, and the people whose lives and work give the neighborhood its character. Local news is collapsing across the country, but we're still here: independently owned, no corporate backing, no paywall. 18+ years, 280k+ monthly readers and followers, funded by the community we serve.
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Hmm – “a permanent underclass of rideshare customers”
Did an auto lobbyist write this article?
Seriously though – feels like there should be room to negotiate how this is implemented. Firstly, a potential carve out for people who are car dependent in the surrounding area (how many are there? And can alternatives reasonably replace a car or no?). Secondly, perhaps the rate could be less for residents (if at all possible).
That this initiative would increase congestion? That’s not at all certain. In fact connecting bike lines across distances, has been shown to decrease congestion across many cities. Plus, it could help the businesses along Meeker Avenue.
I’m not in favor of the plan as is though without some accommodation for local residents who are genuinely car dependent.
Yeah it would have been nice if DOT actually performed studies and surveyed those who park under the BQE instead of city hall just blindly taking rideshare lobbyist money as per usual. I park there and talk to other people who park there. We live and work in transit deserts. The city should scrap this and build the Triboro subway line if they actually care about the working class.
Building bike lanes is a direct benefiet to so called “transit desserts”
Why in the world would we _want_ to continue to sacrifice valuable public space in Greenpoint just to subsidize a few car owners? The vast majority of this neighborhood does not own a car; this space should be dedicated towards purposes that the majority of the neighborhood can benefit from: parks, basketball courts, and yes, the horrors, a tiny sliver of safe space for cyclists!
its under the BQE, what public space do you imagine happening? this is a money grab for Ride share companies and to once again make everything pay to play.
I recommend the El Space Toolkit (google it to see) from the DOT and Design Trust for Public Space. There are many options for beautifying the space under the BQE.
Are you for real?..Greenpoint is chock full of car owners and with these new buildings came MORE CARS. Stop the nonsense and restore parking for FREE UNDER THE BQE….it’s a nightmare trying to find parking since the hipsters invaded!
This is an Op-Ed, not a news article. I’m really disappointed in Greenpointers for publishing a opinion piece without labeling it as such in the headline, or offering edits to many of the less-supported or clear claims in this piece. I live in Greenpoint two blocks from the BQE, by the way.
Confused by the framing – the headline is positive but the content is negative.
good book in case anybody wants additional thoughts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_High_Cost_of_Free_Parking
This article ignores many facts.
1. The goal of this project is to create a safer space for all members of the community. Should people be injured or die due to a minority of car owner’s access to free on street parking? Theses changes will make Meeker safer for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians( some going and coming from their cars)
2. The DOT and Community board 1 were heavily involved in the planning of this project going back at least to 2017.
https://www.brooklynpaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Meeker-Workshop-Sept-2017-final.pdf
3. The cost of the parking spaces is not put on the residents who are using their cars for work. If they needed their cars for work they would be at work most of the time the meters are on.
One week after Ida has swamped the basements of residence of Greenpoint this article is advocating for parking spaces? The BQE and Meeker Ave. divided our neighborhood. This is an opportunity to connect to each other, to use our common space to move people, not park cars.
I used to park my car under the BQE until my catalytic converter was stolen. I used to park on Meeker ave until my car was broken into. I know what it is like to try and find a spot late at night in this neighborhood. But that is not worth the safety and lives of my fellow Greenpointers.
Did you miss the part where the meters go until 10p!?!? If you get home at 5 that’s still 5 more hours you have to pay for. That plus Saturday is almost $3,000 per year in fees. This is an insult to the working class and a gift to the priveledged.
Most working class people in Brooklyn do not own cars.
If you do own a car, then encouraging others to not own cars benefits you.
You think metering parking will save the climate when bezos is blasting into space for funzies??? Lol!!! Oh sweet summer child.
North Brooklyn Essentials is an initiative of North Brooklyn Mutual Aid which focuses on street outreach and harm reduction in North Brooklyn.
North Brooklyn Essentials supports the improvements to the area underneath the BQE. Contrary to the claim that there is no plan regarding the displacement of homeless neighbors sheltered there, we have been working closely with local elected officials as well as DSS and DHS for nearly a year. We can report significant success in advocating for our homeless friends as the necessary clean-up and construction work occurs.
Contrary to the claim that there are no sweeps underneath the BQE, sweeps occur biweekly. Volunteers attend each of these sweeps to facilitate communication between homeless neighbors and DSS. DHS is also present, as the law requires.
They do not street clean under the BQE but they still ticket cars. I attempted to fight a ticket and sent photos of the trash, full garbage bags, and still was made to pay the fine. It’s total BS and a health hazard. Installing meters will only punish longtime residents. Residential permit only parking would be a much better solution. I would happily pay a reasonable yearly fee to obtain a permit and fund street cleaning if the city would get their shit together (and put it in a backpack and take it o the shit store) and clean the GD streets. This is how most other cities handle parking, NYC is so backwards this is why people leave to live in the suburbs.
The parking under the BQE needs to be reduced to make room for new bike lanes, but simultaneously implementing metered spaces would be a disaster. We unfortunately can’t just “disappear” all of the new cars people bought during the pandemic overnight, which have already strained parking in the area. They’ll just start parking further into Williamsburg or buy parking spaces and the class divide in the neighborhood will be cemented forever, pushing out the already waning working-class Polish and Latinx populations.
The city and venture-backed lobbyist groups Lyft, Revel etc should work to gradually reduce the number of parking spots in Greenpoint over time, not just yank them outright if they want to avoid a public backlash.
LOL. So basically a few Meeker Street NIMBYS want permanent free parking, courtesy of the city taxpayer. And teachers, not from the area, don’t want to ride transit, and don’t want to pay anything for parking. Cry me a river!
THIS IS BULLSHIT. THEY JUST WANT PEOPLE TO GET RID OF THE CARS SO THEY HAVE TO DEPEND ON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION OR BIKES. SOME OF US CAN’T RIDE BIKES. AND CAN’T AFFORD BUSES, TRAINS OR UBERS AND SUCH. AGAIN THANK GOD WE MOVED.
On what planet can someone afford a car but not the subway or buses? A monthly MetroCard is $127. If you know a place where I can get a car with insurance for less than $127 a month please hook me up!
Contrary to the claim that there is no plan regarding the displacement of homeless neighbors sheltered there, North Brooklyn Mutual Aid and NBk Essentials has been working closely with local elected officials as well as DSS and DHS for nearly a year. In fact, there has been significant success in advocating for our homeless friends as the necessary clean-up and construction work occurs. Contrary to the claim that there are no sweeps underneath the BQE, sweeps occur biweekly. Volunteers attend each of these sweeps to facilitate communication between homeless neighbors and DSS. DHS is also present, as the law requires.
The homeless near Meeker and Graham have been displaced and are bouncing around the neighborhood as this construction progresses. I see the same folks day after day in various locations. The city is doing nothing to really help them. They will return to the underpass when construction stops which can be seen in some areas already. How are people using a bike lane with tents, mountains of scrap metal, and needles which are all over the place from Meeker to Herbert? They need to be assisted first and foremost. The neigborhood demographics/ transporation needs are not a fit for this bike lane. Hard clap for another useless , idealist policy iniative that will not help bikers (good luck crossing), increase traffic, and displace the homeless.
This is disgraceful…it’s like Dodge City trying to park as it is…can’t believe responderabove said very few car owners in Greenpoint…,duh! Stop already, you’ve already done so much damage to our area…we want our old area back…bye bye hipsters
This is an outrage and a slap in the face to the working families that live near meeker. You can ride down Driggs and not have to deal with brake dust, bird crap, and a literal highway! Residents should be issued parking permits based on their addresses. We have to breathe that air, at least come to a compromise here. Let’s not let Lyft gouge the freedoms we have on our own streets.
The ignorant comments from so many on this page are very sad. Where my block crosses Meeker it is a 15 min walk to either the G or the L and not safe at night for women. There is also no businesses anywhere around, so unsure who thinks it is commercial.
I have a car that is required for my job, and leave at 9am-return at 5. I would be paying for 7 hrs of metered parking per day which is roughly $210/month. Of the 8 units in my building, 6 of us have cars and I assume it is the same for most of our neighbors. The closest garage, if I could even afford it is almost a mile from my home.
Construction has already started in my area and parking was already taken away a few weeks ago. There has been no parking, so I am already parking almost a mile away after circling for a very long time.
Where are people getting their info from? Completely uninformed assumptions on here.
Community Board 1 Transportation Committee will be hearing this issue on Tuesday, October 5th. You can sign up to speak and participate in the chat.
If you would like to challenge Transportation Alternatives (a political partner of DOT, donator to City Council and recipient of donations from big corporations such as citibike, uber/lyft, lime, and revel) and Make Meeker Moves agenda for under the BQE – show up and get your voice heard.
This is a horrible idea. I love the hipsters/yuppies/whatever the new people moved into the neighborhood are called now saying how it’s free parking. Is it really when we pay premiums on registration, insurance and then get tickets if we don’t move on time? The city went to hell and back and then back again and I can’t wait to move out of here and never look back. You people destroyed what Greenpoint used to be and represent all for your coffee shops and yoga shops and thrift shops all in a 1 block radius. I miss the old greenpoint when my uncle got his brand new at the time 1995 Nissan Pathfinder stolen all bc he parked on Mcguinness BLVD. You people would never have survived her nor want to live her but now that it caters to you, you want it. I can’t wait to go to one of your states and see if they allow me to pull what you are doing to ours. Have fun drinking coffee and doing yoga underneath the BQE! RIP GP
This is a poorly thought out plan. Eliminating hundreds of parking spaces is simply not practical, however much it might appeal to inexperienced junior politicians and post-collegiate youngsters who are just passing through the neighborhood. Parking is already almost impossible (in part because the junior politicians and post-collegiate youngsters), and with frequent film shoots the situation borders on the absurd. How about a more thoughtful approach that reflects input from the community, rather than scattershot “solutions” in search of a problem. Real problems? We have plenty, including insane traffic patterns near the BQE onramps, too many cars and trucks on residential streets, bicycles that routinely ignore the basic rules, pollution and more. Lack of parking just adds another.
But less parking will help the problems you mentioned: too many cars, pollution, traffic….?