Merchants and residents in Pelham Bay met with representatives from Councilman Jimmy Vacca’s office and Community Board 10 on Tuesday, March 10 to discuss the future of curbside parking in their neighborhood.
As more and more people in the area own cars, civic leaders feel they need to come up with creative solutions to solve the daily parking issues. The meeting was held in Vacca’s office.
Ed Romeo, president of the Pelham Bay Taxpayers Association and also owner of Lasting Impressions on Westchester Avenue, thinks that angled parking should be tested on local streets.
Vacca has called for a study to examine the feasibility of angled parking and other alternatives on Buhre Avenue. The study will also seek other parking remedies for nearby streets.
“While we were originally thinking about commercial areas near Crosby Avenue only, we thought it would be a good idea to branch out into residential areas as well,” Romeo said. “We are thinking of asking for parking on Pilgrim Avenue between Westchester and Buhre avenues. We are getting mixed reactions, but overall, I think it will do wonders for economic development near Crosby Avenue.”
The group’s target areas are Buhre Avenue near Crosby Avenue, and Pilgrim Avenue between Westchester and Buhre avenues.
“A number of ideas were explored ranging from angled parking, to sidewalk setbacks, to parking on Buhre Avenue – which is not as crowded,” said Community Board 10 district manager Kenneth Kearns, whose board was asked to participate in the study. “Buhre Avenue may be a more viable option because it is wider and less busy [compared to Crosby Avenue]. It wouldn’t involve capital expenditures to paint lines for angled parking on Buhre Avenue.”
Department of Transportation engineers would have to study and approve the new parking design.
Kearns said that he found the meeting productive. He said the overall consensus at the meeting was the suggestion to put angled parking on Buhre Avenue, leaving those coming to the Crosby commercial district a short walk to shop.
“The councilman has asked for community board involvement to go and survey the area and bring back material,” Kearns said. “Angled parking could be utilized on the less busy streets that would be wide enough to accommodate parking at an angle.”
