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Upper West Siders Fight Affordable Housing To Save Their Cheap Parking
By
Miranda Katz
Published Mar 19, 2016
Modified Mar 21, 2016
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By
Miranda Katz
Published Mar 19, 2016
Modified Mar 21, 2016
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An Upper West Side housing nonprofit wants to build 280 new affordable units on West 108th Street, replacing three city-owned parking garages. This has enraged locals who say they resent having to choose between affordable housing and affordable parking.
The proposal from the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing (WSFSSH) would raze the three garages and the Valley Lodge Transitional Shelter on 108th between Amsterdam and Columbus. In its place, the organization would build two taller residential buildings that would include an expanded Valley Lodge shelter, supportive housing, and affordable housing, according to Community Board 7. There wouldn't be any market-rate units on site: to be eligible, families or individuals would have to make 60 percent of area median income or less.
As DNAinfo reports, the city would sell the garages to WSFSSH for just one dollar. Those garages are currently are home to 675 subsidized parking spots, and, according to a study of parking in the area, their day rates are about 50 percent cheaper than other garages in the local vicinity.
"What do you do with 375 cars or whatever it is, plus the other ones, which comes out to 600 and change—what do you do with them, and the people who come to look for parking during the day who work here?" demanded local resident Rafael Padron.
And some were a bit more dramatic in forecasting how the neighborhood would be affected by this dip in parking to make way for more housing: Upper West Sider Mimi Torchin said that "there will be fights on the street...600 or 700 new cars on the street and nowhere to put them will cause violence."
When the proposal first came before CB7, board members wanted to know whether it'd be possible to build parking under the new affordable housing units, so that they wouldn't have to choose between the two. But that same study found that just 118 parking spots could fit in below-grade parking there, and it would cost upwards of $17 million, making it a questionable investment.
The proposal is still in its early stages. Since it includes a zoning variance, it has to go through a lengthy review process that likely won't start until the fall, according to DNAinfo. And ultimately, the community board's vote is just advisory. As things currently stand, there are a handful of local residents who see the need for more affordable housing as more pressing than the need to preserve parking: David Vassar opined that "affordable housing easily trumps cheap parking," and Julie Hertzog insisted that "parking is not a right—housing is a right."
Tagged
affordable housing
parking
subsidized parking
Supportive housing
Upper West Side
Miranda Katz
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