The permanent closure of 78th Street and Northern Boulevard in Jackson Heights for the summer to create a play street has been hailed by many in the community as a much needed expansion for Travers Park, but some local residents and employees said they are suffering greatly from the lack of parking spaces.
“It’s great that young people can get more space, but it is much harder to find parking now,” said Leo Hernandez, a resident living one block away. “It now takes me 45 minutes to find a spot.”
Councilmember Daniel Dromm admitted that 47 parking spots will be lost while the street remains closed for July and August. Dromm said the city began installing Muni-Meters along 37th Avenue, creating two or three additional parking spaces for a total of 100 new spots between Broadway and Junction Boulevard, to alleviate the parking situation.
“In fact, there is more space available for parking now than before.” Dromm said.
Just two blocks away is 37th Avenue, but even with two to three extra spots per block, the regular 47 drivers will now be forced to walk at least a few more blocks even if the extra spots happen to be free.
Residents are not the only ones affected by the closure. A faculty member of the Garden School, a K-12 private school on the block between 78th and 79th Streets, complained about finding parking. The Garden School has five garages for five administrators, but does not have regular parking spots for 36 of its faculty members.
“It is hell to find parking now,” said the faculty member, who asked to remain anonymous. “It was bad before, now it’s worse. And the street is not even in use most of the time.”
Dr. Richard Marotta, headmaster at the school, disagreed with that claim.
“It’s hard to find parking – as usual,” Marotta said. “We worked closely with Councilmember Dromm, to retain access to our parking and spots for our buses. The people come in waves – adults do Tai Chi in the early morning and toddlers play there in the afternoon.”
Hernandez said the play street needs to be closed for the sake of the local residents.
“The street is already closed this year, but for next year we need to start working now.” Hernandez said.
