A new pilot program in Brooklyn is testing a change to alternate side parking, reducing the rules to just one day a week.
The program will take place in parts of Prospect Heights, testing to see whether drivers moving their cars once a week for street cleaning — versus the standard twice a week — will maintain the same level of cleanliness.
The initiative comes days after the city Department of Sanitation once again started slapping neon green stickers on cars that don’t move for alternate side street parking.
However, officials say this pilot program is geared towards helping the drivers.
The department says for years, it’s heard from residents in Prospect Heights who feel twice-a-week alternate side parking is not needed to keep neighborhood streets clean.
So in an effort for cleaner streets and compliance, the agency is testing out the program, a first-of-its-kind outside of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of Aug. 3, drivers within the zone only need to move their cars once a week for street cleaning — under the premise that more people will do it because it’s only once a week, and the street sweepers will more effectively be able to do their jobs.
Some New Yorkers with cars NY1 spoke to said they’re excited.
“I think it’s great, honestly. I think parking has been really hard lately, especially with more cars on the road, and a lot more bike lanes, so it’s been helping people that have a hard time to get out and then move their cars,” said Daniel Sanchez Prada, a driver in the neighborhood. “We’ll see where it goes, I hope they make it permanent.”
“I feel like it would help with compliance, like adherence, if you know there’s one day a week, at least for me, I’ll leave a meeting early to make sure that it happens [moving of car], there’s one day where we have to make sure that it happens, and we do it on that day,” Kelly McComas added.
However, some community members — including drivers — expressed concerns about quality-of-life issues like more rats in the neighborhood if the streets are cleaned less frequently.
City Council Member Crystal Hudson, who represents the neighborhood, introduced the initiative with the goal of making it permanent.
“If we see an increase in compliance and people are actually moving their cars on the designated days, whether it’s Thursday or Friday, then hopefully this can become a more permanent program and it will expand into a larger catchment area,” Hudson said.
Hudson’s office said New Yorkers who wrongfully receive a ticket during the pilot program can email her at District35@council.nyc.gov with their name, plate number and ticket number. Her office also suggested sending a photograph of the ticket.
The Department of Sanitation says any tickets wrongfully issued at the start of the pilot program have all been voided for those drivers.
The program will run until Sept. 25, at which point the agency will determine if cleanliness can be maintained with once-a-week alternate side parking.
The department says nearly half a million car owners disregard street cleaning regulations every week, keeping the agency from cleaning more than 3,000 miles of streets.