Note: This takes a while to set up - but the payoff is worth it.
We live in a city with a lot of problems that are not easily solved. So it's a real treat to come across a problem that has a cheap and easy solution.
The North Side School on 91st Street and 85th Road in Woodhaven, Queens (85-27 91st Street) opened last year after a beautiful renovation to the old Christ Congregational Church. Eventually, this building will house the Circle Academy Charter School, but they are still in the application process.
Disclosure: I live next door to this school and have found them to be good neighbors. Watching the kids walk past our house, smiling and happy on their way to school, has been a delight.
But there's one problem. The school buses dropping the kids off have nowhere to pull over and so they have to stop in the middle of the street. It is a narrow one-way street with parking on both sides so if you are behind school buses on 91st Street around 8 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon, you're out of luck. You will be stuck for 15-20 minutes.
And it's not just one bus -- there are several waiting their turn to stop in the street to drop off or pick up kids, so this goes on for a while. And as you could imagine, the drivers that are stuck behind the school buses get irate, they honk horns, they yell, they scream.
At children. Some of whom are special needs kids.
Nice people, huh?
And so, the school teachers must walk the kids out into the street, in the middle of a traffic jam with angry drivers, to get them on the bus. Certainly not an ideal situation and one that could be easily solved if no one was allowed to park in front of the school during the day. Parking is tight in Woodhaven and we'd hate to lose spots - but during the day it's bearable and the payoff would be worth it.
So we went to Councilman Eric Ulrich's office and discussed with them and they agreed and entered the request for us. We were given a case number (DOT-286485-D6N3) by an employee from DOT (who was extremely polite and responsive to us the entire time). Assemblyman Mike Miller also stepped up with a show of support, writing to Queens Commissioner Nicole Garcia:
Currently, since there are no ‘No Parking During School Hours’ signs in front or on the side of the school, the buses that come to pick up students have to double park in a one way street every day of the week. This causes traffic to backup from Jamaica Avenue with no way out from behind the buses.
This is a situation that needs immediate attention because the school is located at the intersection of two one-way streets with parking on both sides of the street. Again, this means when a school bus double parks it blocks the street and there is no place to traffic to go. They have to wait behind the bus for about 20-25 minutes, which has caused incidents before.
Click here to read Assemblyman Miller's entire letter.
Okay, so we followed up with the DOT employee who originally emailed us and we were (again, very politely) told that it was being investigated
Hi Ed,
Thanks for your email and letting us know about this situation. I will look into this – currently NYCDOT’s Queens Borough engineering team is investigating this concern.
We appreciate the fact that they are very busy and we patiently awaited their decision. And today, over two months after the original request we received the following:
This is in response to your January 19th web form requesting No Parking signage in front of 85-27 91st Street.
DOT’s Borough Engineering staff has completed an investigation at this location. Our survey revealed that a hydrant exists that can be used to pick up and drop off children safely.
Furthermore, motorists must stop when a school bus is loading or unloading children.
Thank you for your interest in this matter.
Sincerely, Nicole Garcia, Queens Borough Commissioner
Click here to see Commissioner Garcia's letter.
We were very disappointed, as you could imagine - but also confused. Did it really take DOT's Borough Engineering staff TWO MONTHS to find out that there was a hydrant on our block? Who's leading this investigation? Inspector Clouseau?
Ok, so here's one problem with the results of their investigation. The hydrant is NOT in front of the school - it's in front the house next door.
Okay, so the hydrant is clearly not in front of the school -- but I guess I see their point.
They are saying that they won't put up a No Parking during School Hours sign there because there's a hydrant and the school should just use that.
That doesn't really help because they sometimes have 2 or 3 or even 4 buses lined up waiting to pick up or drop off kids. But the rules are the rules - what can we do.
And if all the other schools in the area have to live under this rule, like it or not, so will these guys!
I mean, they're certainly no better than PS 306 on 96th Street . . . . oh, wait . . . wow, so PS 306 got a whole big No Standing zone during school days, from 7AM to 4PM, why won't they just use the hydrant?
Well, it's not very fair of me to cherry-pick one -- ONLY ONE -- school that got special treatment. I mean, it probably just slipped past the DOT's Chief Inspector. I'm sure all the other schools are saddled with the same . . . oh . . . they missed this one too? PS 60 Queens on 89th Avenue . . .
Okay - so, that's two -- TWO -- that slipped past . . . . oh, dear . . .
That's St. Thomas the Apostle on 87th St and 88th Avenue. The sun is pretty bad, but that's a No Parking During School Days sign, same as the others. Maybe the sun was in the DOT's Engineer's eyes too!
Look, 3 schools in such a big neighborhood is ... I mean I'm sure . . . . . {sigh} ... FOUR
That's Franklin K. Lane Campus ... the whole street was lined with hydrants and parking restrictions. At this point, we decided to check the rest of the schools - maybe we'd find a few that were actually under the same restrictions DOT was placing North Side School under.
And here's . . . IS 210, just over the border in Ozone Park. This makes FIVE.
Here's Q316 on 101st Avenue - the new school - it's a beauty. And they've got the sign and a hydrant. That's SIX.
And finally, we stopped after visiting St. Elizabeth's on Atlantic Avenue.
That made a TOTAL OF SEVEN SCHOOLS within easy walking distance of the North Side School. All seven had Parking Restrictions - and all seven had hydrants. In fact the only one that didn't have a hydrant was PS 97 on 85th Street - but they had the parking restrictions.
So WHY didn't North Side School get the sign granting parking restrictions? Clearly the reason given -- they should just use the hydrant -- is false.
Any ideas?
- Is it because the building is owned by a charter school? Is the city hostile to charter schools? That couldn't possibly be the reason, could it?
- Is it because we've been less than enthusiastic about DOT's daft and dangerous SBS proposal?
- Is it because the Woodhaven Residents' Block Association has drafted alternatives and started a petition against DOT's scheme?
- Is it because we took the DOT to task for their complete failure to properly light Forest Park during a rape epidemic?
- Is it because we handed them a stinging defeat when they wanted to turn 84th Street around?
Or is it just because they're overworked and understaffed and over their heads.
Either way, we hope our elected officials will work with DOT on our behalf to point out their lack of consistency with this decision.
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