Jan. 26, 2013 By Christian Murray
A petition has formed calling on elected officials to scrap their proposal to introduce alternate side of the street parking in Hunters Point.
The city, following a volley of requests from residents, put forward a detailed proposal earlier this month to introduce alternate side of the street parking—between 45th and Borden Avenues (west of Jackson Street) to enable street cleaning. Those who support the measure claim the streets are filled with litter, waste and unsightly garbage that need to be swept.
However, last week, Doreen Dwyer, who has lived in Hunters Point for 60 years, crafted a petition that is opposed to the proposal. Her petition, already signed by nearly 90 residents, argues that street cleaning is unnecessary and that “the recent spike in litter, debris and dirt on our streets is largely due to the intense amount of construction everywhere.”
Dwyer’s petition argues that street cleaning would be “enormously inconvenient, impossible even, for some drivers to be available to move their vehicles because they are usually at their workplaces.”
The petition also argues that “homeowners are actually responsible for keeping their property fronts tidy, as are business owners and both are subject to hefty Sanitation fines.”
Dwyer said that the city’s proposal to bring alternate side of the street parking to LIC was largely inspired by a group that put a petition together last year calling for the change. It generated about 290 signatures over several months.
“Most of us who opposed street cleaning didn’t even know of their petition, so we put one together of our own,” Dwyer said.
