Jackson Heights Life

 Oh yes, I've been here all along. And the Diversity Plaza renovations were hijacked by a group purporting to represent the whole community- all of JH, commuters, residents, business owners and non-business owners- should have been part of the planning. But it did not end up being representative of the community at large in my opinion. The business community took over. Was it worse before the millions were spent? Not every one thinks so. The cars were a problem, yes, but the traffic only got thrown to one side - the right hand side headed towards Roosevelt- creating a weird traffic area there.
  Also the lack of thru traffic has some shady business going on with more sex traffic and suspect businesses that were not there before. It's a shame because at one point not that long ago this lower end of Jackson Heights seemed to be a promising retail and restaurant area. The block on Roosevelt between 73rd and 72nd seems to have taken the hardest hit.  There are some fine restaurants sprinkled in but the area as a whole is seedier now than I have ever seen before.
   What might be a solution? There needs to be a diverse group of businesses, I think, that will have a variety of clientele and different merchandise and be open staggered hours. A cafe that has a good handle on its outdoor seating, smaller kiosks in an organized fashion would be nice. Near Madison Park on 23rd street in Manhattan, the city has done a good job of limiting the food vendors and have places to sit and throw your garbage which is cleaned often.The trash and garbage collection on 73rd is awful now and worse than before the traffic changes. This is a fear for 34th Ave too because changes making vehicular access more difficult tend to result in reduced services for all. The rat scene at Diversity Plaza is unreal!
   Sorry, not progress in my opinion and all that money just for raising the sidewalk to the level of the street? Why? And for gods sake let's not let that hijacking happen again. Collect
data, feel the temp of the whole neighborhood post Covid and see what consensus and professional planners can deliver.

"their parking spots"??

how does one get a dedicated parking spot in NYC for free?

"Their" doesn't imply dedicated. If you are currently parked in a spot it's common to say it's your parking spot, at least until you move. Semantics aside, it appears that at least half of the current  parking spots along 34th will be removed. I'm sure you would prefer that all were removed, but where will these people park? It's hard enough on Alternate Side days as it is.

 Many of us would LOVE to have parking permits as policy in Jackson Heights. So many spots are used by non-residents, contractors, most of the teachers in our many schools, for example, come from other areas denying those folks who live here the access they need.
This would go a long way in helping those that need their vehicles for any number of reasons to apply for local permits and pay those fees. LOVE this!

Following this issue has been a fascinating lesson in human nature.

When folks don't get their way, they resort to making up negative facts.

Do these folks really believe that anyone will fall for those fabricated negative facts? Do they not realize that "the truth will be found out"?

Particularly by DOT or those in charge who make the decisions... those who have spent effort and time working out the true facts.

Kids are taught to be ethical and not to lie...Maybe kids should be running the world, since adults have clearly "jumped the shark".

Many of us would LOVE to have parking permits as policy in Jackson Heights. So many spots are used by non-residents, contractors, most of the teachers in our many schools, for example, come from other areas denying those folks who live here the access they need.
This would go a long way in helping those that need their vehicles for any number of reasons to apply for local permits and pay those fees. LOVE this!

The absurdity that the people who come to our neighborhood to teach our children and service our buildings and residents should have the option to drive and park here. Denying OUR residents of OUR parking spots!
Entitlement much?

Quote from: JHHD on November 09, 2021, 07:38:00 PM

Quote from: itsit on November 08, 2021, 07:51:09 PM

Many of us would LOVE to have parking permits as policy in Jackson Heights. So many spots are used by non-residents, contractors, most of the teachers in our many schools, for example, come from other areas denying those folks who live here the access they need.
This would go a long way in helping those that need their vehicles for any number of reasons to apply for local permits and pay those fees. LOVE this!

The absurdity that the people who come to our neighborhood to teach our children and service our buildings and residents should have the option to drive and park here. Denying OUR residents of OUR parking spots!
Entitlement much?

Don't worry, if the MOST entitled people here had their way to the full extent of how they would like it, 34th Avenue would be a straight-up park with NO vehicular spots. Hooray!

Sure, the MOST entitled people want one street, while the others just want EVERY street. Seems fair /S

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it appears that at least half of the current  parking spots along 34th will be removed.

No it doesn't. I don't know what plan you are looking at, but it's not the plan DoT presented to CB3. The plan DoT presented would eliminate parking on one side of 34th Avenue at the proposed plaza blocks (Travers and the blocks directly in front of schools along 34th Avenue) and the chicanes I guess would eliminate at least one spot, but that's far from at least half the current parking spots.

It's one thing to criticize the plan or express dissatisfaction with it for removing parking spots - we all have our own prioirities - but it's an entirely different thing to misrepresent the plan. So what plan are you looking at that suggests to you the removal of *at least 50% of the parking* along 34th Avenue between 69th St. and Junction?

If you add up the plaza blocks and the shared blocks along with the spaces removed to allow the diverters to remain unobstructed, you may find the number accurate. However the only pages showing actual parking spaces were for plaza streets, like page 28, so I was misunderstanding the diagrams.

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spaces removed to allow the diverters to remain unobstructed

I think I missed what spaces were being removed for the diverters.  Can you share that from the plan?

Even with that factored, claiming at least 50% of parking spaces are to be removed in the DoT plan in a huge exaggeration. I understand the concern about parking, I drive. While I can stomach a small reduction in parking spaces, and even a slow gradual reduction of more parking spaces, I also strongly believe that must be accompanied by overall improvement in public transit that makes it easier for more people to decide they don't actually need a car (or a second car),

I think the shared block concept is escaping me.  In fact, I find the whole diagram confusing except the plaza streets and the streets that are seemingly left alone except for the diverters.  The original street diagram shows 23 parking spots per block.  The new one shows 20 spots per block, or 13% fewer, (with things like hydrants and driveways other no parking zones ignored).  The plaza streets have only 6 spots, or 73% fewer.  The shared blocks I have no idea what's going on there.  It seems like there are 3 plaza blocks, and the shared blocks seem to be sometimes both sides and sometimes only one side.  My guess is there would be 6 spots remaining on each of the shared blocks to accommodate the chicanes, so there is a loss of 5 or 6 on each side, but I could be wrong.  Someone will have to count the actual current legal spots and figure out where the chicanes and diverters and bumpouts and pedestrian plazas cut prospective spots to get an accurate count.

Add in street cleaning rules and the Sunday Green Market if you want to be confused even more.

At least the parking garages will make some money off this!