New Roosevelt Island Parking Meters Installed on West Channel Road - No More Free Parking So Make Sure You Feed The Meter
Image of New Roosevelt Island Parking Meter on West Channel Road
Those of you who have been parking your vehicles without charge at the recently created 30 new spots (equipped with Streetline's wireless parking sensors) on Roosevelt Island's West Drive
Image of West Channel Road Parking Spots Before Meters Installed
be advised that this free ride has now been changed with the installation of meters and you will be charged for parking your car in these spots. According to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp. (RIOC):
As a reminder the parking meters are now in full operation on West Drive. Two hour courtesy parking is no longer available. A Muni-Meter ticket will need to be displayed on the (driver's side) dashboard. This area will continue to be enforced.So, if you want to make sure you don't get a parking ticket from Roosevelt Island Public Safety Officers
make sure you feed the meter.
Image of New Roosevelt Island Parking Meter on West Channel Road
Of course, whether there should be additional parking spots in this location is another question but as long as they are there, they will have to be paid for.
As one reader who does not like the West Channel Parking spots noted:
... Those 30 spots are a very poor use of those areas. A long and beautiful vista is a high price to pay for 30 spots (and the ugly gaps for fire hydrants etc.) and more foot traffic to trample on public lawn and plantings. There are so much more space that can be used north of the steam station (across/south of the Fireman's Field) and all around the back of the hospital facing Queens.A contrary view as well:
Actually the spaces are for short term parking. Sensors are being installed to make sure they are used for that. Also I read here that they want to lower the prices in motorgate to encourage parking there as well. The hardest thing for businesses is having no short term parking. Its a death sentence. Try inviting a family with a car for a bite to eat on RI. Try inviting anyone to this oasis for anything and the RI parking tax at the garage or lack of parking anywhere makes it impossible. You can have a family of 5 park somewhere else and pay a cab or take a subway but that adds 20 bucks either way. As a result you have a ghost town for shops in an already bad economy and current businesses threatened. Also lets remember it was changed to one way for safety reasons as the area near the subway was an accident waiting to happen.
4 comments :
Are there signs on the West Channel Road that indicate paying the meter is now required? I saw no such signs this past weekend. Also, the parking meter prompts the customer to enter the parking space number ... Are there parking space numbers???? And what is the Sunday rule? I saw cars parked on West Channel Road this past Sunday that displayed meter receipts on the dashboards ... Did these drivers pay when they weren't supposed to?
I stand corrected. There are several signs, and the parking spaces are indeed numbered. Good job by RIOC.
Actually the signage is quite terrible. More is needed for now till everyone "gets" it.
I was in Cape May last year where they have used this process for a while -- it does take some cognitive skills to note and remember the space number and do the 'meter', but it does work.
For someone like me, who lives in one of the original WIRE buildings and rents a car every now and then but can never park briefly near my building to load or unload or pick up or drop anyone off -- having a few more spaces a little south of my building with short term parking can only help.
Hopefully RIPSD will do its job -- both monitoring the new spaces and a better job of enforcement by the original buildings so we are not so short-term-parking challenged
Thanks for the free 2 hour parking. It was a nice courtesy. I realize I now have to pay, and have no problem with it. I think this is great for the island.
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