Queens Boulevard merchants ask city to ease parking regulations so street becomes destination

The Daily News wrote about my efforts to enhance parking regulations on Queens Boulevard in Long Island City so that they better serve Queens residents and business owners rather than people travelling through Queens.

Sunnyside merchants are urging the city to change parking rules on Queens Blvd. so that it becomes a shopping destination instead of a thoroughfare for out-of-borough drivers.

Officials and business owners are asking the city to eliminate the current no-parking rule between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m.

They also want the municipal parking lots under the 7-train tracks to be reduced from 12-hour spots to four-hour spots to discourage commuters from hogging spaces.

"There's nothing more frustrating for those of us who live in Queens to see the city's rules operate to service people who are traveling between Long Island and Manhattan and not serving the people in between," said state Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria).

Gianaris, as well as City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) and Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Queens/Bronx), wrote to the Department of Transportation asking the agency to allow parking on Queens Blvd. after 8 a.m.

The current no-parking rules are in place to facilitate rush-hour traffic, an agency spokeswoman said.

Read the full article here.