Comments on: Hell’s Kitchen Parking Plan Continues to Confound

By: Aaron W

Aaron W — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 12:18:13 +0000

It's always hard to know if things like this are the result of deals made to achieve something else, or simply incompetence (which is not to say that it's necessarily a beneficial deal, if it is).

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 21:53:17 +0000

More of the Jekyll-and-Hyde Bloomberg. Scotch the parking spaces and make any on-street parking market rate.

The administration continues to say one thing and do another, and most of the do-as-I-say, not-as-I-do nonsense has to do with its kowtowing to big development interests, like Brooklyn's Public Enemy #1, Bruce Ratner.

By: Niccolo Macchiaveli

Niccolo Macchiaveli — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 20:27:11 +0000

This parking expansion creates two effects, both negative; the real estate has the price of parking rolled into it, making it much more valuable to car owners than non-owners and it forces non-owners out decreasing capacity utilization on the end of the #7 line and devaluing the investment for the MTA.

By: Quill

Quill — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 20:18:21 +0000

This parking is bad. Period. This will encourage thousands of new driving trips into the CBD at the same time City Hall says it is working to discourage those trips. The word for this is Hypocrisy. Things like this are why many in the think the congestion pricing proposal is BS.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:06:39 +0000

I am of two minds on this:

- Build the parking and eliminate on-street parking so street space can be dedicated to pedetrians and bikers. No matter how tough you make it to drive to the area, people will do so. Isn't it better to get parked cars off the street?
- Have less off-street parking and price the on-street parking very high. Given the scale of development envisioned there is no way to do this with no garage space.

Keep in mind that the city has long had a pro-auto mindset. Look at:
- Contra-flow measures facilitating driving into Manhattna during morning rush (my biggest pet peeve)
- The Yankee Stadium parking fiasco
- The tragically flawed redesign on Houston Street

We are not going to be able to change the mindset imeediately to a less car-friendly one. But at least the discussion is in the open now.