NYC Drivers Falter in Alternate-Side Parking Pilot, Leading to More Tickets
A pilot program to reduce alternate-side parking days in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, resulted in a significant increase in tickets, undermining efforts to improve street cleanliness.
Drivers in Brooklyn's Prospect Heights neighborhood largely failed to comply with a pilot program that reduced alternate-side parking (ASP) rules to two days per week, city officials and records indicate. The eight-week trial, which ran from August 3 to September 25, saw drivers accumulate 913 ASP summonses, an increase compared to the period when rules were in effect for four days a week. This outcome led to visibly dirtier streets, according to the city's Department of Sanitation (DSNY).
During the pilot, only 62% of drivers moved their vehicles for the designated parking days, a decrease from 73% the month prior to the program's initiation. The average number of summonses per month during the pilot was 457, exceeding the rate before the reduction in parking enforcement days. City Councilmember Crystal Hudson, who supported the pilot, suggested that some drivers may have deemed the $65 ticket a lesser inconvenience than moving their cars.
"For people who count the tickets as just the cost of owning a car in New York City, maybe they’d rather just get one ticket than two," Hudson told Gothamist. "There’s definitely a lot of disappointment. I’m disappointed. I was hoping to have it become a permanent change. But we’ve got to do better."
Regular alternate-side parking rules have since resumed in Prospect Heights, requiring drivers to move their cars four days a week. The DSNY spokesperson noted that an estimated 500,000 cars citywide fail to move for street sweeping each week, impacting street appearance and contributing to sewer blockages.
The pilot program was implemented in a roughly 10-by-two-block area bounded by Atlantic Avenue and Eastern Parkway, and Vanderbilt Avenue and Grand Avenue. It was intended as a "carrot-and-stick" approach, offering reduced enforcement in exchange for greater compliance. The program initially faced some issues, with parking enforcement officers issuing tickets erroneously in the first week. These tickets were reportedly waived and did not count towards the final tally that deemed the pilot unsuccessful.