By Jeremy Walsh
With a decision on the specifics of congestion pricing soon to arrive, many residents worried that the borough's mass transit system would not be able to handle the increase in riders.Dani Simons, director of E-media initiatives with the city Department of Transportation, said nearly $400 million for new buses is lined up if the congestion pricing goes through.CB 2 Chairman Joe Conley said he hoped for a few more local concessions with PlaNYC 2030, including removing 12-hour parking meters on several stretches, including 21st Street and ending parking under the No. 7 train at 7 p.m. instead of 10 p.m.He warned people that permit parking would not be a catch-all cure for the district's parking woes. “It won't let you park in front of your door every night,” he said.Board members were also fed up with city workers abusing their municipal parking permits.Simons said Bloomberg is preparing to cut 20 percent of the city's parking permits. All city agencies are required to account for all their permits by March 1, she said.Conley said another planning concern for western Queens is hospital space. Between the additional 1 million residents expected in the city by 2030 and the increasing elderly population, another hospital will probably be needed to accommodate residents' health needs.Board members also criticized the city for allowing development to outpace the infrastructure in Queens.Nazli Parvizi, commissioner of the mayor's Community Affairs Unit, said the mayor's plan is trying to keep paces with the city's projected growth.”It's a market-driven economy,” she said. “Most of the property is privately -owned. We can't tell people not to build apartment houses and high rises. We can only say, 'What can we do for the schools? What can we do for the firehouses?'”Conley said the mayor was on the right track.”At least PlaNYC 2030 is forward-thinking,” he said. “We know they're coming. And we need to start planning for it now.”Conley urged people to participate in the next parking forum, to be held at the Citi building in Long Island City on Jan. 29 at 6 p.m.Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e-mail at jwalsh@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
