TODAY, Thursday, May 5, City Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer introduced two bills cracking down on businesses that park cars on sidewalks. Council Member Rafael Espinal, Chair of the Committee on Consumer Affairs, is a co-prime sponsor.
Throughout the city, car dealerships, car washes, parking lots, and tow companies use sidewalks as showrooms or workspaces, creating a hazard for pedestrians who are forced to walk on the street. Sidewalk parking by business is not only particularly dangerous for people with disabilities or parents with young children; it causes structural damage to sidewalks, which are not designed to hold the weight of parked cars.
While it is currently illegal to park on a city sidewalk, the law is under-enforced and for many businesses, the $115 ticket is not a deterrent. Majority Leader Van Bramer’s bills will hit businesses where it hurts by increasing fines and allowing the Department of Consumer Affairs to revoke the business licenses of repeat offenders.
“When businesses use sidewalks as parking lots, it puts communities in danger,” said Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer. “Too often, these establishments figure in the occasional parking ticket as just a cost of doing business. We need to hit them where it hurts. My bills, introduced with Council Member Espinal, will increase fines and allow the Department of Consumer Affairs to suspend or revoke the business licenses of repeat violators. By punishing businesses in a real and tangible way, we can get cars off the sidewalks and keep communities safe.”
“These two pieces of legislation are simply about pedestrian safety. I value our small businesses and the services they provide to the local community, but people shouldn’t have to walk on the street or through a maze of cars to get from point A to point B. Our city’s sidewalks are made for pedestrians, not for businesses to park their cars. This is an issue that has plagued many neighborhoods, especially in the outer boroughs and its time we take action,” stated Council Member Rafael L. Espinal, Jr., the Chair of the Council’s Consumer Affairs Committee.
The first bill, Intro 1179-2016, makes parking vehicles in a sidewalk or crosswalk a violation for the following types of DCA-licensed businesses: used car dealers, parking garages and lots, tow companies, and car washes. The bill states that the commissioner shall suspend or revoke the license of businesses that found to be in violation more than twice in one year. The second bill, Intro 1180-2016, directs the Commissioner of Finance to implement increasing penalties for repeat violators.
“For far too long, too many businesses have made parking lots out of our sidewalks, which are supposed to be a place where our families can walk without having to worry about cars,” said Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. “We thank Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer for showing Vision Zero leadership and taking action to put a stop to this deadly form of business as usual.”
“It is absolutely unacceptable for car dealerships to use the pedestrian sidewalk as an extra parking lot for their vehicle inventory,” said Laura Newman of Make Queens Safer. “Cars on the sidewalk force pedestrians into traffic. Car dealerships tend to be on heavily trafficked roadways where pedestrians are placed at great risk stepping off the curb and into oncoming traffic. The sidewalk is the pedestrian safe zone. Make Queens Safer applauds Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer for introducing a much needed bill to prohibit this egregious infringement upon pedestrian safety by making sidewalk parking a violation of the business license and allowing the Department of Consumer Affairs to shut down repeat violators.”
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