A fellow Crown Heights resident
You are coming home from a long and tiring day at work, driving past your home in search of a parking spot. After some time spent looking for one, it seems like you’ve finally found something in the distance… oops, it isn’t big enough. Someone parked their car halfway in the first parking space after the corner and halfway in the one behind it causing the only two available spots on that block to be taken.
Does this scenario sound familiar to you? For many residents in our community who don’t have driveways or own garages, this is a daily experience they know only too well.
And imagine how even less space is available when family members and guests come in for simches, Shabbatons, Tishrei, Kinus Hashluchim, Kinus Hashluchos, Yud Aleph Nissan, Gimmel Tammuz etc.
Most blocks have fire hydrants, non-blockable driveways, no-parking spots and/or any combination thereof. Whatever remaining place is available contains a certain amount of car spaces, and as the demand is greater than the supply, many drivers are left circling the neighborhood for a significant amount of time in search for that elusive parking spot.
Parking one’s car halfway in two spots (or mostly in one and slightly in the next) results in one less spot being available for other drivers.
In light of the above, I would like to ask everyone to please have consideration and Ahavas Yisrael for the other drivers out there and make sure that your car only takes up one spot following a corner, hydrant, driveway, no-parking zone or another parked car, both in front of you and behind.
But think of all the families like mine that don’t have a vehicle because we can easily rent one. If each of us had a car there would be less parking spaces.
we do have our own driveway BH
Street parking is public parking; it is not paid, private parking. This just goes with the territory when you have a car in NYC. What most of the younger generation probably don’t realize is that once upon a time, in NYC, most people did not have cars. It is not essential in NYC to have a car
Parking and taking the minimum space is a must! In other neighborhoods when this is not followed the driver will find a note on it’s windshield about the space he/she overtook. Car Rentals are a major problem and it’s not right! I can’t imagine that this is OK Al Pi Halocho. The same goes for commercial vans and school buses. They do not belong in the streets. They used to give to tickets for it, I guess that’s not happening anymore… Homeowners who do have driveways or garages would really show Ahavas YIsroel by actually parking their cars there to… Read more »
Every house should get at least parking spot, designated by a driveway curb cut even if said houae doesn’t have a driveway.
All homeowners should have at least one car space.
Or even worse…you finally find a spot and are getting ready to take the spot and another yid goes in head first (fishdives) to take the spot and refuses to acknowledge you were there first…
I parked my car right behind the red car. Then the red car in front of me and the yellow car front of the red car both leave. Then a larger car parks in front of me Leaving a small space for any want to park in front of him . In this case it’s nobody’s fault it’s just the reality . The only way to fix this would be not to put straight lines which will make it very large Parking spots but rather, as a rule always park in front of your car behind other car. And frankly… Read more »
Marked space size will necessarily be larger than the average car.
Most often there is nobody to blame unless you know for a fact that the inefficiently parked car was the last one to get there.
One way to help compactify cars is to require owners to come out periodically and pull forward if there is new space in front of them. But this, of course, is not realistic.
There are rental cars in crown heights that take up most of the parking on several blocks in Crown Heights. They block driveways and leave they’re garbage strewn all over the place. Just because it might not be against the law and most Crown Heightsers don’t use the mesirah way of furthering their interest and are a peaceful people that don’t use strong-arm tactics does not give them the right and license to act in a “chazershaftigen” way by “unkaken” the residents and making their life miserable.
Just remember sometimes people parked properly, and later other cars moved and came etc. Always be Dan lekaf zechus.
To number 2, the meters don’t work like that. You can’t add time the receipt is in the car.
Number 14 the first spot after the corner. Not the last spot on the block. The first spot in the block. Quite simple
Somehow if they could invent a system in cars that communicate, and they would turn on remotely, and move a few feet to accommodate another space for parking, that would be great.
we should partition the neighborhood to mark the parking spots on all blocks therefore allowing a driver to know where their car should be parked and maximizing parking spaces per a block. We can spare head this project. Who can we start this conversation with.
I understand you but cars are different sizes. one car leaves, another one comes. a small one comes in the place of a big van and Tada- you have a small space or a space just too small for a car. Either way its not an easy fix. But this is city living so have fun
sometimes you park just a couple of feet behind a car and the car in front moves and that results in 1 1/2 spaces available, which makes you look like the culprit, but you did nothing wrong
That there are rental car companies operating in crown heights, these rentals take up parking spots all over crown heights not taking in consideration that its meant for the residents in the neighborhood. if you want to have a car rental company/agency no problem do what every other company does and get a parking lot and park your cars there, leasing cars and then renting them out and then having them parked on the street isnt ok on any level.
Some motorists are not aware and park their cars at the ‘stop’ line. This is incorrect and takes away precious space. The stop line is exclusively where to stop when driving and reaching an intersection. When it comes to parking you may pull up till the crosswalk.
Agree with #21 I’ve seen it happen often
If you keep a note with your number in your car, just put it on the dashboard or window, so if the car you blocked needs to pull out, they have a contact
i found that when you park early i the day or when you move your car at alternate days and there are no cars you just park anywhere. when another car comes and does the same , there is bound to be empty spaces before and after
Lots of times a larger car/van leaves a spot and over time imbalances occur and it’ll look like someone parked inconsiderately when in reality they worked perfectly and just over time different sized cars came and went and changed the landscape.
You don’t know which cars were there before the person parked.
Just to point out that there are different size vehicles, and even if it may seem that someone parked inconsiderable, it is possible that they were just fitting the space left to them by previous vehicle who was parked there before they came, and is now gone…
This should our biggest problem this year
Amein!
KVC”T LST”U
Unfortunately, many people from the black community, that don’t live in the neighborhood/block, they also use our streets to park their cars at night.
For the most part of the year, that we don’t have a big event in Crown Heights, you can see that Friday night, right when shabbos begins, when all the Yidden are at home, you do have plenty of parking spots (at least in my area).
By 11pm on Friday, everything is taken, nothing available.
I wish there was a way to change that.
you don’t know the size of the car in front or back when they actually parked. could be they parked ok but with the coming and goings of other cars it may look like they parked haphazardly. don’t get me wrong ITA it’s just sometimes its not what it seems
Sometimes the car that us now taking more than one space may have been the first one to park after the alternate side regulations were over. Then people who parked behind him began parking from the corner near one another & when the parked cars reach his car there is only 1/2 a spot left. I’ve seen this happen after I’ve parked.
this article would have been easier to understand with pictures.
i had zero clue how to picture this scenario: “Someone parked their car halfway in the first parking space after the corner and halfway in the one behind it…” huh? if it’s the FIRST space after the corner then how is their a space BEHIND it?
not trying to nitpick. i honestly don’t understand. maybe i’m the one parking like that and i’d like to stop but i don’t even know what i’m doing.
Is there a way to have the curb marked by the hydrants to show how close you can park? I’m always scared to park too close, and I may end up parking too far, causing some of these space issues.
To clearly leave their contact info on their windshield or dashboard so they can quickly come & move their car if someone is parked in. I have witnessed real situations on my block where people needed to get out when double parked in for doctor’s appointments, trips to the airport, or other important reasons. Let’s work together to help each other !
The only one who drives is the “guy” ?
Since we have street cleaning here, some staying earlier in the day and some later, please be considerate and if you need to move your car by 7am, you can park your car in a spot that has early cleaning the next day making it easier for people who don’t want to move their car that early
Very often the users (abusers) of the Rental cars couldn’t care less where they park on the streets of Crown Heights and in fact sometimes leave their garbage (Snapple bottles etc.) for someone’s else “mother” to clean up, lest they get a Homeowner’s Sanitation ticket. Total lack of menschlechkeit!
The only way to solve the issue is to have parking spots marked for the default car size like they have in other cities otherwise it will never work. In addition families that used to have 1 car are getting 2 or 3 so it basic physics that there is more cars the spaces so it’s will never be able to hold of the cars there will always be cars that won’t have spaces. What we need is a municipal parking lot even underground 2 or 3 floors of parking to accommodate the community.
Wow, its as if I wrote this article myself. Completely relateable on so many levels.
Ask city to paint lines on curb to demarcate average parking dimensions. It could work also by ensuring one doesn’t receive a ticket for parking too close to hydrants.
I live out of town, where more parking is available, and have also neighbors park like this. It is very frustrating. This happens all over, not just CH.
such a big problem that happens hear in the sichuan 🙁 CC
While it’s true that we could use more civility and consideration around here, I have one defense. I, too, own a car and feel so frustrated when I see a few “half” spaces and can’t park. However, sometimes, and not always, people park their large car/van, and when they pull out, a smaller car pulls in, leaving a small amount of space, not big enough for another vehicle. That isn’t always fact, but give people the benefit of the doubt. At the same time, do try to be considerate when you park, especially near a hydrant, driveway, etc. That you… Read more »
Thank you for bringing this matter up. I would like to add a few points to this topic. When parking try to park as close as you can comfortably to the car in front of you so that you leave as much space behind you for another car to possibly be able to squeeze in. Another VERY IMPORTANT point, when double parking (during alternate side or otherwise) PLEASE, PLEASE leave a note in your windshield with your phone number so that you don’t trap the driver who is legally parked. In addition, I always try to look out if I… Read more »
This is so true, I see this almost on a daily basis, thinking to myself “if only the guy could have moved his car a bit closer to the one in front…” Let’s show care for another!