2 weeks Ago By Catalina Gonella
New York City lawmakers are taking a fresh look at how parking rules affect safety, traffic flow and small businesses — and they're considering new legislation to ease fines, expand truck parking and make intersections safer. The City Council’s transportation committee will grill the city Department of Transportation on everything from truck loading zones to permit abuse and street safety improvements during an oversight hearing on Monday. It will also consider three related legislative measures.
One bill up for discussion, sponsored by Councilmember Julie Won from Queens, would ban parking near crosswalks citywide — a traffic-calming measure known as “daylighting.” The bill would require the city’s transportation department to install daylighting barriers at 1,000 intersections per year. “Universal Daylighting saves lives, we’ve seen the proof,” Won said in a statement.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re walking, biking or driving, increasing visibility at intersections makes us all safer...
By requiring DOT to install hardened barriers at 1,000 intersections per year, our city will follow in the footsteps of Hoboken, San Francisco, and cities across the world, which have seen significant reductions in fatalities and crashes thanks to daylighting.” Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla is expected to be among those attending a rally on the steps of City Hall ahead of the 10 a.m.
hearing. The event comes after 120 organizations sent a letter to the DOT in support of daylighting. A second bill , sponsored by Councilmember Mercedes Narcisse from Brooklyn, would waive additional fees for parking tickets if the vehicle owner responds between 45 and 90 days after receiving a violation.
Meanwhile, a third bill , sponsored by Councilmember Natasha Williams from Southeast Queens, would require the Department of Transportation to create overnight parking areas for commercial vehicles in industrial business zones. The DOT did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment..
