By Kathianne Boniello
Some Little Neck residents living near the Long Island Rail Road stop are so sick of fighting commuters for on-street parking spots they are pushing to get traffic restrictions in the area altered, and Monday night Community Board 11 gave the changes a green light.
Residents of Little Neck Parkway between 39th Road and 37th Avenue told the monthly CB 11 meeting at MS 158 in Bayside Monday that they cannot even drive their children to school in the morning without railroad commuters laying in wait for their parking spots.
CB 11 includes the communities of Bayside, Little Neck, Douglaston, Oakland Gardens, Auburndale and Hollis Hills.
After one resident complained to state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) and the city Department of Transportation was notified, the community board scheduled Monday night’s public hearing to get a consensus on the matter, CB 11 Chairman Bernard Haber said.
The area in question has a no parking restriction on the western side of Little Neck Parkway between 39th Road and 37th Avenue.
The roadway is extremely narrow between 39th Road and 38th Avenue, but residents said they would support increasing parking on the eastern side of the parkway where it widens between 38th and 37th avenues. On the eastern side of Little Neck Parkway the 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. no parking restriction extends from 39th Road to 37th Avenue.
CB 11 voted to alter the no parking restrictions on the eastern side of Little Neck Parkway between 38th and 37th Avenues to 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.
CB 11 Vice President Joan Garippa, who lives in the area, said the parking restrictions in the area were originally brokered 20 or 30 years ago between the city DOT and community groups in the area because of safety.
Garippa, acknowledging the traffic restrictions limited parking in the area, said “people had to give a little to get a lot — safety at the crossing.”
After a spirited debate in which CB 11 Vice President Jack Como refused to support the proposal because it was for the convenience of the residents and did not speak to the safety issues involved, the board voted to approve the item in to 20-5 decision. Three members abstained from the vote.
In a much less controversial issue, CB 11 unanimously OK’d a separate proposal to convert 44th Avenue between Little Neck Parkway and Westmoreland Street from a two-way street to an eastbound one-way street.
Rita Lazazzaro, who has lived on 44th Avenue for seven years, said the street was so narrow “it should never have been a two-way.”
Susan Pagan, a resident of the avenue since 1993, said she has seen cars end up on her neighbors’ front lawn.
“The potential for tragedy is always there,” she said.
CB 11 unanimously approved the one-way decision by a vote of 28-0.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
