Under new law sponsored by Council Members González and Lander, Sunset Park will be the first neighborhood to earn reductions in street cleaning

New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Sanitation Commissioner John J. Doherty and Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan today announced that Sunset Park in Brooklyn will be the first neighborhood to benefit from a new law that will allow communities whose streets meet City standards for cleanliness to have one less day of alternate side parking per week.

Under the law, co-sponsored by Council Members Brad Lander and Sara M. González of Brooklyn, community boards in qualifying districts will be able to reduce the number of times street sweepers visit their blocks, reducing the burden on resident drivers to move their cars on street cleaning days.

Brooklyn’s Community Board 7, representing Sunset Park and Windsor Terrace, is the first neighborhood to take advantage of the new regulations that will ease the search for parking in New York City. The announcement was made on the corner of 44th Street and Third Avenue in Sunset Park, where parking restrictions will take effect one day a week, down from two per week prior to the new law.

“Today we are making New Yorker’s lives a little easier and empowering communities to opt out of one day of alternate side of the street parking,” said Speaker Christine C. Quinn. “These new regulations will provide residents with incentives to keep their streets clean and is one in a series of reforms that will simplify parking in the city.”

“Alternate side parking regulations were introduced in New York City in 1950 to assist the Department of Sanitation in keeping our more than 6,000 miles of streets clean,” said Department of Sanitation Commissioner John J. Doherty. “The rules have worked well for us and today New York City streets remain at the highest cleanliness levels ever recorded. Brooklyn Community Board 7 now becomes the first district in the city to qualify for street cleaning reductions under the new law. We will all work together to assure that their streets remain clean.”
“Alternate side parking is a true New York ritual and an essential part of keeping our streets clean,” said Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. “This law recognizes that communities that care for their streets can make their own lives a little easier by taking advantage of the new law. I want to commend the City Council for this step in improving New Yorkers’ quality of life and congratulate Brooklyn’s Community Board 7 for its leadership on this issue.”

“I want to thank Commissioner Doherty for working with Brooklyn Community Board 7 and my office to help find a balance that keeps our streets clean while reducing the burden of alternate side parking on residents,” said Council Member Brad Lander. “As the sponsor of Local Law 30 of 2011, I am proud to be here today with Speaker Quinn, Council Member Gonzalez, and Council Member James to celebrate Sunset Park’s victory in their decades-long fight to reduce alternate side parking regulations.”

“I am very satisfied with the reduction in alternate side parking legislation, specifically after working with the Mayor’s Office of Operations regarding their scorecard cleanliness methodology,” said Council Member Letitia James, Chairperson of the Council’s Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste. “The quality of life will improve for local residents now that parking is easier. This legislation should also minimize cars circling for parking spaces, and improve air quality at the same time. Lastly, it’s important to give community boards with high cleanliness ratings such as in Sunset Park and Windsor Terrace the power to reduce street cleaning, and the ability to make independent decisions in the best interest of residents.”

“Since I was Chair of Community Board Seven, I have fought for more equitable street cleaning regulations. Sunset Park was one of the few communities that labored under the most onerous parking restrictions. This legislation will ease the burden of alternate side of the street parking and make it easier to find parking while reducing emissions, fender benders and frustration levels,” said Council Member Sara M. González, co-sponsor of the bill. “With this new law, residents throughout the City, including my own district, will experience greater health, public safety and environmental benefits as well as significant relief from excessive ticketing. This law reflects the Council’s appreciation for residents’ efforts to keep our streets clean. I want to thank our Speaker, Christine C. Quinn, Sanitation Commissioner John J. Doherty and my colleague Brad Lander for making this long awaited remedy a reality.”

“As every New Yorker who has ever had to wake up early to move their car knows, every minute counts,” said City Council Transportation Chair James Vacca. “Cleanliness should always come first, but anytime we can ease our parking crunch while maintaining clean streets, that’s a win-win for our neighborhoods.”

“This is a great victory for our community, which has tried since at least 1978 to reduce our street sweeping days,” said Community Board 7 District Manager Jeremy Laufer. “Council Members Gonzalez and Lander worked together to create legislation to help us achieve this goal and our Board is very thankful for their leadership. Now, working with the Sanitation Department, we must ensure that we keep our high cleanliness ratings. We recognize the responsibility that comes with this right.”

The City Council passed Local Law 30of 2011 to amend the City’s Administrative Code earlier this year. The law will allow Community Boards that have received an average street cleanliness scorecard rating of at least 90 percent for two consecutive fiscal years to opt out of one day of alternate side parking per week. The reductions would apply to residential portions of such districts that receive a minimum of two days of street cleaning for each side of the street.

Two Community Boards in Brooklyn and one in the Bronx previously qualified for street cleaning reductions through a pilot program with the DSNY. Those Community Boards are:
• Brooklyn Community Board 6 representing Park Slope, Red Hook and Carroll Gardens
• Brooklyn Community Board 2 representing Fort Greene, Brooklyn Heights and Downtown Brooklyn
• Bronx Community Board 8 representing Riverdale

To date, street cleanliness ratings in those districts have remained at above 90 percent.

To find more information on the changes to alternate side parking, visit: www.council.nyc.gov

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