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Lazy drivers in Prospect Heights lose chance for 1 less day of alternate-side parking
By
Liam Quigley
Published Oct 8, 2026
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Elizabeth Shwe/Gothamist
By
Liam Quigley
Published Oct 8, 2026
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The Department of Sanitation is sweeping up the broken dreams of drivers in Brooklyn's Prospect Heights, who were too lazy to move their cars during a pilot program that liberated them from alternate-side parking twice a week.
The brief taste of parking paradise began in August, when the department reduced alternate-side parking enforcement to just once a week for both sides of the street on select blocks. City Councilmember Crystal Hudson said that the pilot would examine whether drivers could be trusted to help keep the streets clean by complying with alternate-side parking on the single day it was in effect.
The results came in on Thursday, and they weren’t pretty. Lazy drivers ignored alternate-side even more frequently, despite having to move their cars less often. Alternate-side compliance dropped from 73% to 62%, according to Hudson.
“ My theory was that with fewer times to move your car, compliance would go up,” Hudson said. “But unfortunately it's just not what we saw.”
Hudson speculated that drivers either fell out of step with their routine or simply did the math and decided that it was easier to pay the fine than shuffle their cars.
"For people who count the tickets as just the cost of owning a car in New York City, maybe they'd rather just get one ticket than two," Hudson said.
The blocks for the pilot stretched from Pacific Street to Lincoln Place and Vanderbilt Avenue to Washington or Grand avenues.
The sanitation department issued 455 alternate-side parking tickets when drivers were required to move their cars twice a week in the month leading up to the pilot. Drivers were slapped with 913 violations over the pilot period – despite there being half as many days of alternate side enforcement.
The sanitation department took photos of the blocks and had inspectors checking out the streets. The department determined street sweepers were not able to clean sufficiently.
“ There's definitely a lot of disappointment. I'm disappointed,” Hudson said. “I was hoping to have it become a permanent change. But we've got to do better.”
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brooklyn
sanitation
transportation
Liam Quigley
Liam Quigley is a reporter covering parks & sanitation for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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