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Limo Lanes Make Luxury Apartment Dwellers LIVID
By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 16, 2011
Modified Aug 16, 2011
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By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 16, 2011
Modified Aug 16, 2011
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If you're paying to live in the lap of luxury at a Trump Place building on the Upper West Side, you'd think that there would be freaking parking spaces available in front of the building. Instead, the Department of Transportation has embarked on a six-month pilot program that has eliminated parking spaces between 65th and 67th Streets on Riverside Boulevard, creating a lane for taxis and limousines. The DOT tells the NY Times these may be the first limo lanes outside of residential buildings in NYC.
The Times found an annoyed couple outside of 160 Riverside Boulevard, where a one-bedroom rents for over $3,000: Mel Grzesh had parked their car in the limo lane and his wife Ella Grzesh fumed, "Look who is going to park: limos! Why would we just give space to limos?" Later, Mel Grzesh chimed in, "A taxi and limousine, they’re entitled to make a living. But not as a parking zone," complaining it was hard to find a parking space. He must mean it's hard finding a free parking space, because there are parking garages at every building in Trumpistan. But one of the signs we saw proclaiming the TLC vehicle-only zone was covered by a tree—classic DOT move!
The pilot is to address complaints that taxis and black cars waiting for customers outside these buildings double-park (because residents' cars are parked outside buildings) and that makes things dangerous, especially as Riverside Drive will be connected to Riverside Boulevard at West 72nd Street. The DOT has also painted medians for traffic calming, but a consultant for the Coalition for a Livable West Side pointed out, "The DOT should be embarrassed in trying to pass off striped lines on the pavement as a traffic calming measure. Visually narrowing a street with striped lines may or may not have any influence on motorist speed, and certainly plays little to no role in pedestrian safety." In fact, the yellow-striped medians are just becoming another place for cars to travel on.
Tagged
limo lane
luxury apartment
parking spaces
riverside boulevard
taxi
tiny violin
tlc
trump place
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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