By CHAUNCEY ALCORN
City officials expect new Muni-Meters to help residents and visitors constantly struggling to park in Jackson Heights by providing more space along 37th Avenue, but feelings Monday among local store owners and shoppers were mixed.
The city Department of Transportation in February began installing 70 Muni-Meters on 37th Avenue between 72nd and 95th streets to replace 428 single-spaced meters. Parking regulation costs and duration remain the same, but officials said the Muni-Meters will increase parking availability in the neighborhood. Vehicles parking next to individual meters leave bigger gaps between one another and Muni-Meters encourage drivers to close those gaps, according to officials.
“Because of these meters, about 10 to 15 percent more vehicles will be able to park in the same area,” City Councilman Danny Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) said during an outdoor press conference in the business district. “That’ll be 10 to 15 percent fewer [vehicles] circling and circling looking for parking.”
In addition to coins, the new Muni-Meters accept credit and debit card payments as well as city parking cards.
DOT Queens Borough Commissioner Maura McCarthy said lack of parking availability is one of local residents’ most-frequent complaints. By eliminating individual parking meters, drivers will be able to park more closely to each other, allowing for more vehicles to fit in the same amount of space, she said. Some of the old meters also will be replaced by bicycle racks.
Some area business employees were not as optimistic that the new meters would make a difference.
“I don’t think so,” said Mary Talusan, manager of the Italian Farms convenience store at 80-01 37th Ave., where she has worked for the last five years. Talusan said the new Muni-Meters do not do enough to help commercial vehicles find places to park.
“I lost two distributors. They don’t want to deliver for me because of the parking,” she said. “As soon as they come in, they have an over $100 ticket …. [City officials] should give them some time, a minute, to [double-park] to unload stuff, just for all the commercial business.”
Kathy Gibbons, who has lived in Jackson Heights for about 40 years, welcomed the new meters.
“Sometimes the old meters aren’t working and you’ll get tagged anyway,” she said. “I take care of my mother in Bayside. They’ve had Muni-Meters there for a while. There are so many different sizes of cars now that the effects will be good and it’s bringing us up to date.”
But Jackson Heights resident Robert Diaz, a 30-year native, said the new meters are an inconvenience.
“It makes you walk more. For some people like me, I’m handicapped, that’s bad,” he said. “I’m old-fashioned. What about the [parking] time limit? It’s the same? I don’t see the advantage.”
Reach reporter Chauncey Alcorn by e-mail at timesledgernews@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
