NYC reverses course on Upper West Side parking meters following community pushback
New York City is reversing course and reinstating dozens of free parking spots on Manhattan's Upper West Side.
Roughly 70 spots along Columbus Avenue, between West 73rd and West 86th streets, were switched to metered spaces earlier this month, drawing pushback from the neighborhood.
Councilmember Gale Brewer said the change happened without proper community input and residents should have been notified before the new signs were posted during the overnight hours on August 11.
"I only heard about it because residents started calling frantically, not from DOT," Brewer said Monday.
Free parking restored, pending community input
First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro sent an email to Brewer on Tuesday, saying in part, "We agree that the agency could have done more to inform and include the public in the specifics and timing of the program's implementation."
"This is especially so since so many use cars in this UWS neighborhood and affordability is a concern for all New Yorkers," the email continued.
Mastro said he will have the Department of Transportation "roll back this parking plan and restore the status quo ante until such time as DOT has had the opportunity to solicit more public input on the specifics of the plan to be implemented and to give more public notice before implementation of whatever specific plan is ultimately adopted."
He went on to say parking signs will be reposted within the next 48 hours, and that "no one should have received any fines for non-compliance."
DOT officials had said the metered spaces were necessary after others along Columbus Avenue were switched to loading zones, and that the three-hour parking limit coincided with other rates in similar zones.