“No parking” signs are posted on trees and telephone poles on 38th Avenue in Bayside as a $62.5 million sewer and water main replacement project continues.
But neighborhood residents who park on 211th Street off 38th Avenue said that the signs have not always been there during the “on- and off-street construction” that has been going on since April 2018. In other instances, residents shared that some streets had an insufficient amount of signs posted, with car owners reportedly getting tickets in the vicinity despite an alleged lack of signage.
Sergio Orellana said that he was parked on the corner of 211th Street and 38th Avenue when he got his parking ticket on Jan. 25. According to the Bayside resident, he was aware that signs had previously been posted on multiple wooden structures around trees within the construction zone, but observed that they had been taken down when he got the ticket.
“The signs are no longer there,” Orellana told QNS on Jan. 31. “I also drove around to see if any of the other streets were you could previously not park had the signs and they do not as well. Every day I pass by the same spot and see other cars with tickets.”
Orellana provided photos showing empty spots in areas where “no parking” signs were previously hung.
Fredric Mushel told QNS that he was ticketed on Jan. 17 when his car was parked on 211th Street between 36th and 38th Avenues. According to Mushel, he later discovered that a “no parking” sign was posted “about 150 feet from the corner of 211th Street and 38th Avenue” after he tried to argue his ticket in court.
“Since my ticket, I have taken pictures of other ‘entrapped’ parked cars on 211th Street because people cannot see the temporary posted sign on a 300-foot-long street,” Mushel said.
In his research, Mushel learned about a Department of Transportation (DOT) rule that says “one authorized regulatory sign anywhere on a block, which is the area of sidewalk between one intersection and the next, shall be sufficient notice of the restriction(s) in effect on that block.”
Mushel argued that some of the signs could not be seen with the human eye and people would have to walk up and down the block in order to see them. He has since photographed over 30 ticketed cars in the vicinity of 211th Street and 38th Avenue.
When capital street projects begin, the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) gets a traffic plan approved by DOT. The plan includes parking details and how many lanes of traffic have to be maintained. Once approved, the contractors working on the project implement DOT’s plan.
QNS reached out to DDC and DOT for comment and is awaiting responses.
