Though the Carroll Gardens community, with the help of our elected officials and the City Council, have established once and for all that parking is NOT allowed on the neighborhood's signature, city-owned, front courtyards, some residents and businesses obviously still think that the rules do not apply to them and to their cars.
See the photos above of the latest example on 4th Place. Though there have been driveways in front of the 1960's two-story houses to the right for many years, someone has recently decided to turn the grass covered courtyard of #117 4th Place into a parking spot as well.
They were sent to me by a reader, who wrote:
It seems that the illegal use of the court yards for parking is spreading. Here’s some recent pics of 117 4th Place. This property doesn’t have a fence, is often garbage strewn and now has vehicles parking on it. There is no curb cut and these pics show two different cars.
I agree with the reader. We all are frustrated by the lack of parking spots in the neighborhood, but it takes an enormous amount of guts to just drive onto the curb and into the courtyard.
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14 comments:
Katia -
I used to live next door to that building. On top of that, they illegally cut down a full grown tree in the front yard of the building!
There was a full grown tree on the left, and a good size sour cherry tree where the car is illegally parked in the photos.
Gary
People need to call 311 over it. In addition to not being able to park on the lawns, it's also an illegal curb cut. Basically they're taking up street parking and only the city can decide whether you can remove a parking space form the street for driveway access or not.
i think that block might be a lost cause unfortunately.
It's a matter of political will. If those courtyard spaces are essentially DOT sidewalk then there's no allowing parking on them. The only way for existing curb cuts to approach legitimacy on these "Place" blocks is if they lead to an off-courtyard parking location (i.e. a garage or backyard space within the property line). The courtyards are part of city owned right-of-way, and these owners can not park as they have been. This includes those who have been doing so for decades. While we may not be able to force owners to landscape the courtyards, they can be made to move their cars off of them. If certain owners have legal curb cuts, the city can enforce that these drivers pull their cars in off the courtyard space. If there is no garage or place on the actual property to house a vehicle, then it is unlikely that the curbcut is legal. Therefore I don't think any of these blocks are too far gone. Political will to enforce parking laws is needed. Coupled with a real effort to clarify courtyard usage in City Council.
Holy crap you whine a lot.
Dear Anon 2:46,
I respectfully disagree. Fourth Place should not be given up to illegal and destructive use. Who owns this house? They should be called to task. We collectively own that courtyard. What would an effective next step be? Bombard 311 with calls? My experience with 311 is that it's a waste of time. Get our electeds on the case? Call the precinct? Who overseas illegal curb cuts? We cannot and will not give up on any part of our neighborhood!
Why wouldn't a car just park on the street blocking illegally parked cars egress?
yawn.
hey anon 12:45 am,
do you care about our neighborhood? maybe were you just sleepy when you yawned. makes me wonder where you park your car.
as per the 1961 Zoming Resolution section 25-62 and its sub-section, parking is not allowed at that house or any other house on the block. Call 311 and ask them to send DOB inspector.
i was about to say what gertrude said: folks should just park at the curb spot and block these jackholes in. a few times with them not being able to get their car out would teach them a lesson.
but you need to get someone to park 'em in.
311 is useless. No one should have to risk their own cars. This is what we pay taxes for. Who owns this property? What is the penalty for illegal parking? Where are our electeds? Bill de Blasio, you are our Advocate, where are you? Brad Lander, it's your job to represent us, where are you?
According to DOB online records, a complaint was called in to 311 in August 2009 and the DOB inspector visited but reported that there were no illegally parked cars at that time and no illegal curb cut. So they didn't issue a violation. The photos sure show otherwise. Classic problem.
The building owners are Skender, Bajram and Ramazan Demirovic of Bath Beach, Brooklyn. If it's a tenant's car, the owners should tell them firmly that it is illegal and is inconsiderate to neighbors.
I had to deal with a similar issue with car rental business that used the sidewalk to store it's inventory. Calling 311 was a waste of time. One conversation with the Community Board Director led to a phone call to the Police Precinct and this selfish use of public land ended.
And to those anonymous commentators that think this is boring: Stay in Bath Beach and park on the sidewalk.
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