Trying to park in Long Island City? May the force be with you.

Having consideration for people who live here is a foreign concept for the people who make the rules.
Residential parking is long overdue in the areas around subway stops, esp around Queensboro Plaza.

what LIC needs is a multi level municpal parking lot near the vernon/jackson & LIRR station.
1. Commuters, who are traveling from other areas and take the 7 to Manhattan, would have to pay for using space.
2. Residents would have a cheaper alternative than parking in the $200/month private parking lots.
3. Businesses would have higher volume because people would find parking easier.
4. City would make money from metered parking. (Usually $0.25 per 15mins. or $4 for 12hrs.)

Totally disagree with No. 3. The last thing we need is another one of those hideous municipal parking garages. There are already a number of them near the waterfront in the new buildings and from what I can tell none of them are filled to capacity. A new one isn’t going to change a thing. The problem is and always will be that 1) People will not pay for parking where it is possible to park for free or for very little and 2) LIC is being used as a transit hub for people from long island and other parts of the city. The solution is as follows:

More meters on Vernon and key commercial blocks allowing for short term parking for businesses. They should top out at 1 hour. You should be able to pull into any of the number of local business by easily finding parking out front.

Some limited form of alternate side of the street parking. As much as it is a nuisance it does it force people to use and move their cars, but the streets could use cleaning. People would not be able to park the “weekend” car on the block and leave it there for 5 out of 7 days untouched. They would be forced to move it or find a spot in any of the ample number of parking spots in the residential buildings.

Residential parking permits. the few spots that are here should go to the people that live and work here – not to some middle manager from LI who likes to drive to work in the city, but can’t be bothered to pay the toll and pay for parking in the city. Local policy should not be driven by the needs of outsiders. We should take care of our own first.

Here’s a crazy idea. Maybe a neighborhood only about 5 square miles with more than a dozen subway stations, 2 regional rail stations, and countless buses doesn’t need more parking? Ok, let’s think for a second what the uses of additional parking in LIC (assuming every parking space there is currently “used”).

1.) For people not living in LIC to drive there. These people might then take the subway to Manhattan, or they might be driving to LIC to buy stuff. Either way, LIC is easy to get to without a car, and both these uses will add immense traffic. They are ultimately far worse for the neighborhood than far better. People from Manhattan aren’t driving to LIC, they don’t have cars.

2.) For people who live in LIC to keep a car. What are you doing with this car? You’re not driving to work in Manhattan, that’s for sure. Maybe you’re driving to a job on LI somewhere. That’s not helping the city at all. Have a job in the city. Maybe you’re a vagrant living at the powerplant (the furthest point in the entire neighborhood from a subway station, at about 4500 feet), and you want to be able to drive to the subway yourself. Maybe you want to be able to drive yourself to one of the Targets in Queens to go shopping for cheap groceries. That’s not helping the local businesses in LIC at all either. These additional cars also create traffic and promote additional discretionary automobile trips.

3.) You’d like a garage to get all the parked cars off the streets and put bike lanes everywhere. I like this idea a bunch, but something tells me it wouldn’t play out like that.

LIC definitely needs Municipal Meter style parking so that there IS short term parking available near businesses. That said, studies have shown MOST of the parking near businesses in the city are taken up by the employees that work there. I also doubt that much, if any of the traffic for most of the businesses on Vernon come from cars in the first place. There’s no need for additional parking at all. Raising the cost of the parking that’s there would solve the problem, especially since many of the cars surely come from further out on LIC. Here’s a little data driven evidence (care of the ACS):

LIC is mainly PUMA 04001 (and somewhat 04109). For the purpose of these numbers, though, I didn’t bother to combine the two. SORRY! Work on it yourself.

Anyway, there are about 52,000 occupied housing units. Of these, only 31% own a car (26% own a single care per household, the other 6% have 2 or more). That means there’s only about 16,000 cars in LIC. As a car is about 6ft wide and 14 feet long, that’s about .05 sq miles or 1% of the land are of LIC. This is easily absorbed on street ignoring the 2,000+ spaces in Queens West alone. Additionally, only 17% of the 68,000 people living in LIC who are employed commute to work by car. That’s less than half of the people who even own a car.

Parking is NOT an issue.

If you’d like to do some more fun ACS research on your own, may I recommend:

http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=79500US3604001&-qr_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_DP3YR2&-context=adp&-ds_name=&-tree_id=3308&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-format=
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=79500US3604109&-qr_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_DP3YR2&-context=adp&-ds_name=&-tree_id=3308&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-format=

Oh boy, I’m gonna get flamed here, I know, but I may as well throw in a comment from one the Queens West high-rise dwellers…

We have a “weekend car” which we park on the street and leave for days at a time. We considered renting a spot in the garage when we first moved in, but decided to see how difficult it was to park on the street. I have never had a problem finding a space. In two years, I have received 2 tickets. One was for parking within 15 feet of a hydrant (a rule that is “flexibly” enforced in the neighborhood) and most recently when the stretch of 5th was changed to accomodate the police parking their private vehicles there (my wife didn’t notice the sign change).

The garages in the East Coast II, and Avalon North and South are less than half full. They all offer good deals for commuters (I think all are under $10/day), and most are around $200/mo. for residents. If alternate side was instituted, I’d probably suck it up and rent a spot.

I’m confused on the need for “shoppers” to park on Vernon Blvd. Aren’t those businesses oriented toward the walking-distance community? Who is driving to LIC to shop at a wine store on Vernon (the owner was spotlighted in the NY1 piece and indicated that the lack of parking on Vernon was a real problem for him)? If you come to LIC to eat at Manducatti’s, the 7 is right there as well.

For that matter, who are these people that are supposedly driving in from far away, parking their cars in the neighborhood from Monday-Friday, then driving back out at the end of the week? Is this really what’s happening? It would seem the garages have plenty of room for them, if they really exist.

Maybe permit parking is the way to go, I really don’t know. Is it possible that there isn’t really a problem here that needs solving?

some of you really like to hear yourselves type…make your points more briefly, pls. – you bore us…

“and the argument that peeps having cars means not patronizing local establishments is wrong. the local businesses just need to be more competitive with prices, service and/or selection. dont blame car owners for the lack of business.”

But when transportation costs are subsidized (in this case the cost of you driving to buy your things), they cannot compete on price. They have rent to pay, it’s more expensive in a nicer place. They cannot compete with some super tax break enhanced target out on Long Island on price, and the fact of the matter is, they definitely can’t compete when it’s cheaper for you to drive out there than when it is to just walk into their store.

As to the guy who’s bored, you’re probably the same sort of fellow who drives 3 blocks to the subway and expects there to be another spot right there.

Finally, plenty of people carry their groceries on the subway. It’s not that big of a deal. That’s the joy of being in the city. How many groceries do you need to buy at one time, anyway?

residents in LIC really do want EVERYTHING!

Yup, thanks #7. Interesting info.

I challenge the notion set forth by #7 that there are 2000 parking spaces in QW and that 16,000 cars are easily absorbed by street parking. Not true at all. If there are 16,000 resident cars, then add to that at least 5,000 commuter cars (more, not-including the long-term freeloaders), 5,000-10,000 visiting cars, and then trucks and commercial vehicles (probably at least 1,000 if not more considering all the industry)… then on top of that, a huge chunk of the parking goes to commercial around here, and police, fire etc… There is not enough parking in LIC, and your data actually proves it. You just glossed over the number of ACTUAL parking spaces available. Makes me wonder what is your agenda.

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“Anyway, there are about 52,000 occupied housing units. Of these, only 31% own a car (26% own a single care per household, the other 6% have 2 or more). That means there’s only about 16,000 cars in LIC. As a car is about 6ft wide and 14 feet long, that’s about .05 sq miles or 1% of the land are of LIC. This is easily absorbed on street ignoring the 2,000+ spaces in Queens West alone.”

I agree local businesses need to realize some of their prices are high. I think the only bar that still gives a buy back is the bar by the 7 train.

Rockrose’ parking lot is pretty full but only at night (all levels). Not sure about Avalon. Regardless, the BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Lexus drivers are not parking in there. I’m sure if it were cheaper, more people would rent a space instead of leaving their car in the street.

There is clearly not enough parking for everyone, residents or visitors. Just look at the number of cars that circle on weeknights and weekends.

Some serious drinking must happen in LIC if people are complaining about not getting buybacks. Jeesh.

A NYC block is typically 1/20 mile by 1/10 mile or 264 ft by 528 ft. If the average length of a car is 14 ft each city block can park 113 cars. If there are 16,000 cars in LIC you would need 142 city blocks to park them all. If you define LIC as the area bordered by the QB Bridge, Newton creek, the LIRR rail yard and the East river there must be at least 100 unique blocks. Granted these block are of varying sizes, but also LIC is a much larger area and the 16,000 cars were derived using area well beyond that small boarder. Its seems entirely plausible that if parking were restricted to only LIC that there would be plenty of street parking for all. Now in truth if you live in Queens West you are not going to park by the bridge, but as a statistical and intellectual excise it appears to have merit.

27, Fine, don’t believe it but having a guaranteed parking spot is not a constitutional right. Put in the garage. If you can’t afford to put it in the garage then get rid of the car and get on the subway it or keep driving around in circles looking for a spot. There is sufficient on street and off street parking for LIC. I don’t know what it s that you are proposing.

If there were decent retail in LIC I would get rid of the car altogether. But there’s not. If you are putting a home together, you can’t even get base essentials in LIC. Unless you DRIVE to Home Depot or other places in faraway parts of LIC. A car is not necessarily preposterous in LIC… you’re just a car hater. There is no where near sufficient parking in LIC, and when they build more condos it will become even worse because the condo garages are always expensive. Anyway, I’m wasting my breath. You obviously don’t have a car here, which is fine, just don’t act like you know what you are talking about. Because you clearly don’t have a clue. Ask any business owner on Vernon if they think there is enough parking.

Sorry, when I said there is sufficient parking I menat that with the addition of common sense rules like short term metered parking in commercial areas alternate side of the street and the introduction of residential parking permits, there should be enough. Sorry for the confusion.

I do have an issue with the notion that Everyone should be able to have 1 (2+) cars and have ample free on street parking. That’s never going to happen. This is NYC. Most stores will deliver to you because they know that you can’t haul large items on the subway. I’ve lived in LIc for 15+ years without a car. It is possible with planning. Government should not everything so car focused. We should be looking for ways to encourage people to leave their cars at home.

queenswest.com is not a site from which to draw any official data about LIC. It’s just a person’s message board. Not a statistics company. And Matt, of course people in Manhattan don’t need Home Depot because there is a hardware/houseware store in every neighborhood. It’s ridiculous to even compare. You have no argument. LIC doesn’t have 1/10th the base amenities of almost every other urban nyc neighborhood. Of course you can live without a car, but you can live with one too, and I am all for bike lanes, all for police and fire parking, but I’m all for residents having some rights to the curb as well. And the businesses. Sorry but none of your fake data changes anything. LIC is not the West Village, we have Home Depot or nothing else. Put a hardware store on Vernon Blvd and then I will shut up about that. But until one is there, I won’t. And we don’t have sufficient parking. Any reasonable person who has lived here for 5 minutes can testify to that. (Note the use of the word reasonable.)

Who are these people that are constantly going to hardware stores? I’ve been to Home depot maybe twice in the last year. Each time by subway I would add. Your entire justification for a car rests on two hours of shopping in a year?

those pdfs are old and clearly do not reflect the current parking situation. Correct me if I am mistaken but, I don’t think you can even park in Avalon unless you live there?

anyone saying that there is plenty of parking space most likely does not operate a vehicle in LIC.

#40 and #38 (Same person?) you don’t seem inclined to any other view point either. (I’m not 39). I don’t understand how you can say there is no parking problem in LIC, and then say the parking problem in LIC is not from within. The latter is a correct statement. There is a parking problem in LIC and it’s not caused by the residents. It’s caused by everyone else who uses LIC as a parking lot, for various reasons. The residents and businesses have the least right to the curb and that is what we would like to improve by putting in more meters and alternate side parking. Your data is useless and irrelevant, and also totally out of date.

The “municipal” parking lots were all built for residents of the buildings, but no one uses them now. This was the deal that Queens West made with the neighborhood 12 years ago. This was to stop the fears of the original community here that is sadly fed up with this problem because of overdevelopment and the unsustainable amount of people that have moved into such a small geographic area, most with cars. A simple solution that turned into a nightmare due to poor planning and a pack of lies to the original residents of this area.

Now everyone is belly aching about lack of parking. Makes no sense. You live in a particular building, use and pay for your garage. that was the original agreement.

End of parking problem.