It is 7:30 a.m. on Monday morning. The stressful challenge to avoid a ticket and circling city blocks for a parking spot begins again for car owners in Parkchester in the Bronx. Monday through Saturday residents play the parking games. They rise early because they aspire to keep their current space which stands on the side of the street where alternate side is suspended the next day.
“The frequent street cleaning is hard on residents having to run down stairs to move their cars and find a park,” said Vanessa Lee.
If plan A fails, the next best thing is to find a spot on a street not governed by the meter. In the most desperate attempts, meter parking is heaven sent. After the morning parking wars die down at 9:00 a.m., the shopper have begun to arrive. They must now try to find a space among the uninhabited cars that rest in the streets of Metropolitan and McGraw Avenues. The solution to end this chaos has yet to be determined.
“Parking is a big issue and I’m not comfortable with it at all,” said Vanessa Lee a 15 year resident. “I feel that as a person who is an owner of a unit in Parkchester, there should be something designated at least for the owners.” Residents and business owners are divided over the parking issue. Business owners are looking for a solution to the problem that benefits the shopper. Residents are hoping for a solution that grants them a guaranteed parking space.
Parkchester is a residential community situated on 129 acres of land and is home to 12,000 apartment units. According to the Social Explorer, the estimated population is around 30,000 people. There are approximately 2,926 people who are unit owners and 10,024 people who rent in the area. Out of this total number about 3,082 people use cars as a means of transportation to work and school. “It’s congested over hear it’s crowded and the meters make it a lot worse,” said Lee. “There’s a lot of fighting and controversy with people trying to battle to park.”
According to Lee, the frequency of the street cleaning and different hourly limits on the meters in different parts of the area is creating a major hassle for the residents. “The parking culture in the neighborhood causes people to be careless when it comes to others property,” said Lee.
“One night I parked my vehicle across the street on McGraw Ave there was an empty space in front of my car. When I went out to the car the next morning someone backed into the front of my car,” said Lee. Situations such as this are the reason she believes Parkchester should reconfigure the parking setup.
Parkchester Preservation was not available for comment. According to the Bronx Times, back in May Central Parking which oversees the garages wanted to eliminate the assigned parking in for residents. The monthly rate for a parking space in one of the three garages ranges from $180-$220 based on the Central Parking website. The proposal was later scrapped because frustrated residents signed a petition in order to keep their assigned spaces.
“It’s too congested they configured it for max amount of revenue for themselves which means nothing for the store owners,” said George Scopolitis the owner of Step Ins Restaurant. He believes that a reorganization plan needs to be implemented by Parkchester Preservation. “If no one can park they are not going to get out of their car and buy something,” said Scopolitis.
He alludes to the many times customers call into the restaurant asking for a to-go-order because they cannot find a parking space to go sit down and eat. “If you are going to sit down and order T-bone steak that’s not what you are going to order to go,” said Scopolitis. “I might have made $20, but I could have made $80.” This type of decision making also makes customers think twice before returning because they know the difficult parking situation that exist, according to Scopolitis.
Scopolitis and his family spent many years trying to find a solution to the parking problem and the effects that it has had on the business. Step Ins opened in 1974 and tried to rent spaces from several lot owners to no avail. “I think they should reconfigure the isles in the middle of the street or at least build another parking garage with self-rising elevators to maximize space,” said Scopolitis. He believes this will increase profits for the area stores and Parkchester.
“The area behind Macy’s, if that was designated for renters and owners then we wouldn’t be fighting each other in the street,” said Lee in reference to the parking lot located in the South Condominium’s Yankee Mall. Parkchester is divided into two sections north and south. The dividing line is Union Port Rd.
The South Condominium is in the heart of Parkchester commercial zone and has the least parking for its residents. The North Condominium houses more parking lots with residents allowed to apply for permits to park in them. This practice gives residents as sense of ownership to the community. The larger issue remains with the large number of residents with cars out numbering spaces.
“It’s gotten so crowded and I don’t think Parkchester is doing all they can,” said Lee. In 2007, Parkchester was forced to demolish its parking garage that stood vacant five years prior due to structural issues. Since the demolition, the building has yet to be replaced. Despite this, the complex is doing what it can to accommodate its residence, shoppers and business owners. Over the past year the complex invested in renovations of the plumbing and landscaping. The Metro North is also scheduled to build a Parkchester Station on East Tremont Avenue which may push the organization to address the parking situation further.
“Parking is an issue for some people, but for me my business gets a lot of foot traffic from people in the area,” said Chris Moriatis the owner of Ellie’s Diner located at 58 Metropolitan Oval. He agrees that parking is an issue, but he sees it as a way for people to visit the area walk around and take in the recreational landscaping the complex designed.
More parking in the area would only cause the air to become more polluted. According to the NYC Environmental Protection web site, “every year motor vehicles contribute approximately 11% of the local PM2.5 and 28% of the nitrogen oxide emissions.” The city is trying to reduce the amount of air pollutants emitted into the air and water each year. A green effort such as this is sure to keep Parkchester Preservation from adding more parking to the community. “I don’t know how much more they could do. It’s up to the city,” said Moriatis.
great story, if you would have had more time i feel like it would have been great to touch more on the debate between the residents and the business owners on establishing parking for shoppers compared to residents who want permanent parking. How do you go about that? I’ve seen permanent parking in other parts of Manhattan where there is lots of space, so it is an interesting dynamic
Parking spaces anywhere, is a battle. I like the description you use in your writing. It gives a great sense of personality to your topic. I see that you did your research and great job with including statistics, it shapes your piece.
Nice use of stats, Earl. I like how you ended it with the voice of Moriatis. It makes the piece balanced.
Its evident you did a good amount of research and used it well to support your story. Also the quote at the end was a nice way to end the story.