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Daily News follows up on "rampant" illegal parking around Atlantic Yards construction zone; AYR video shows NYPD placards on Sixth Avenue

The parking problem closest the Atlantic Yards arena site seems more the province of public safety agencies than anyone else--which means the Empire State Development Corporation and Forest City Ratner don't have much clout.

The video below, shot on Tuesday (7/5/11), shows most cars parked in front of No Standing and No Stopping signs on Sixth Avenue between Dean and Pacific streets had police department placards, with a few having fire department placards and some without any obvious placards.

According to this chart (excerpted below), from Transportation Alternatives' Uncivil Servants project, parking is allowed only if the agency is explicitly permitted.



(Atlantic Yards Watch has pointed out multiple sources of the problem, though signs now on Sixth Avenue seem to be warning construction workers.)

Daily News article

Today the Daily News picked up on widely aired complaints, in Illegal parking rampant around Atlantic Yards construction zone in Brooklyn.

The newspaper reported:
Developer Forest City Ratner and the Empire State Development Corporation - the state agency that oversees the arena project - say they know illegal parking is a problem near the site, where construction is underway on a new Nets venue.

"We acknowledge that there remains a lack of enforcement in the area, despite ESD's repeated efforts to encourage the NYPD to issue tickets to owners of illegally parked vehicles. As a result, we have begun exploring other parking solutions with Forest City Ratner," said ESDC spokeswoman Beth Mitchell.

A Ratner spokesman said the company has instructed contractors to tell their workers to obey parking rules...

An NYPD spokesperson said that the precinct's "commanding officer has also informed personnel assigned to the precinct that individuals found violating the parking restrictions in the area may be subject to disciplinary action," and noted the department has ticketed thousands of cars with bogus parking placards citywide.
Waiting for one precinct to step up?

As I reported 6/29/11, at a contentious public meeting, Arana Hankin, Director, Atlantic Yards Project for the ESDC, said she's spoken to the local precinct at least five times and Forest City Ratner at least ten times. The issue of construction workers, she said, "we've tried to solve."

As for police and fire, she noted that the arena site sits at the confluence of three precincts, and an emergency services plan must be established, with one precinct taking jurisdiction. "When that happens, illegal parking will be enforced," she said.

Shouldn't that come a little sooner?

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