Brooklyn's Prospect Heights Alternate Side Parking pilot ends after compliance drops
A pilot program that allowed some Prospect Heights residents to move their cars for street cleaning just once a week instead of twice has come to an end after city officials said the neighborhood failed to meet compliance goals.
The New York City Department of Sanitation launched the test in August in partnership with City Council Member Crystal Hudson. The program reduced Alternate Side Parking requirements on selected streets, giving drivers fewer days to move their vehicles for street cleaning.
Officials said they hoped the reduced schedule would encourage greater compliance. Instead, sanitation data showed the opposite.
According to the Department of Sanitation, Alternate Side Parking compliance dropped by 11% during the pilot.
The agency also reported that the number of parking tickets issued increased slightly, rising from 455 to 457 per month despite enforcement days being cut in half.
"I was expecting to see an increase in compliance given fewer days that folks would be required to move their cars, but that just wasn't the case," Hudson said.
Department of Sanitation Press Secretary Vincent Gragnani said the pilot was designed to determine whether residents would comply with parking regulations if they only had to move their vehicles once per week.
"The concept was, in essence, to say, 'OK, you only have to move once per week per side, but you really have to do it,'" Gragnani said. "Unfortunately, as the council member said, people did not do that, and compliance got worse."
Some residents said they were disappointed by the results. Rebecca Spivak said neighbors had hoped the program would become permanent and believed residents understood they were participating in a test.
Others who complied with the rules said they would like to see the program return despite the outcome.
Residents interviewed by CBS News New York speculated that some drivers may have chosen to pay an occasional $65 ticket rather than move their cars, undermining the pilot's goals.
As a result of the findings, Alternate Side Parking regulations in Prospect Heights will remain unchanged.
