Mayor Bill de Blasio" class="company-link">Bill de Blasio voiced support today for reforming alternate side parking rules–a day after his Sanitation Department told the City Council that such changes could leave many streets still jammed with trash.
Manhattan Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez has proposed sweeping changes to street cleaning law that would allow car owners to return to their parking spots once sanitation crews leave the block–reforms he and some of his colleagues argue would relieve motorists of both stress and parking tickets. The Sanitation Department, however, warned yesterday that streets sometimes need a second go-over before they are clean
“The department appreciates the intent of the bill to make on-street parking available more quickly for motorists, but respectfully opposes the bill,” director of cleaning operations Paul Visconti testified. “That vehicle equipped with a GPS, let’s say, goes around the block—it doesn’t mean the block is clean. We want to reserve the right to come back around the block and clean the street. The bottom line is to get the curb clean,”
Mr. de Blasio, however, today praised Mr. Rodriguez’s legislation and vowed to find a way to make it work.
”What Council member Rodriguez is trying to achieve I think is commendable,” the mayor said. “I think his vision is a good vision, we have to figure out if we can find a way to make it practical, and I will certainly work constructively with him on that.”
Mr. de Blasio stopped short of making a full U-turn on Mr. Visconti’s testimony, however, and said that the bill would have to be fine-tuned to fit the needs of the city.
“There are still a number of issues that are unanswered,” Mr. de Blasio said. “They [the Sanitation Department] they don’t have yet all the details worked out on how they would implement such legislation effectively.”
