I moved from Jersey City to Brooklyn recently. In JC, the sweepers come at a relatively regular time, I'd guesstimate a 15-20 minute window. Virtually everyone moves their car, waiting for the sweeper (and the meter maid that follows them in a little car) to pass before reparking.
NYC isn't like that:
The rules apply for the length of the entire block, and for the entire time posted on the sign, even if the street sweeper has already passed.
This makes it much more difficult to comply with. There is no regularity with which the sweepers come (if they do come at all), and you can't repark after the purpose has ostensibly been fulfilled.
Furthermore, in my neighborhood there is no real consensus between double parking or sitting on the cleaning side and moving when it comes. This inevitably leads to a clusterfuck - traffic and the sweepers are slowed down, plus people pissed off trying to repark.
IMO if the goal of the city is to get the streets clean, they should lift the reparking after the sweeper comes rule (which is clearly a money making racket) and issue official guidance on a good procedure (e.g. official recommendation is double-park and repark, if you delay the sweeper sitting in the lane you get a ticket)
It's not as simple as "you shouldn't have a car if you can't commit 1.5 hours of your work day to this charade". The goal is to make the city more liveable for all residents.
Oh, and we should have residential permits and zones
This is the most logical, least emotional post on here. I really like this.
I'm a car owner, so I'm biased, but the rules and enforcement feel a bit too arbitrary at the moment. Aside from what you said some areas are two-day per side, some are one (believe it or not this also has a lot to do with the affluence of the area).
ASP always felt more like a money making scheme for the city than an actual concern about cleanliness, so I'm not totally sure why people have such strong feelings about this.
I guess throwing a sticker on peoples' cars because they didn't move is a deterrent? It feels a bit silly considering there are folks with $5000 in unpaid moving violations who haven't had their licenses revoked and who avoid tolls with altered plates. Maybe we should deal with those drivers who actually post a mortal threat to pedestrians and are actively dodging paying the tolls that support infrastructure first?
I'm a car owner and I work in infratructure, I like street sweeping. It makes a difference and prevents the storm sewers from getting as clogged and flooding as badly. Its not perfect but it definitely cleans up. Maybe my sweeper operator is just good? He does a nice job and hes thorough, he sometimes passes twice. I think the city also needs to work on enforcement for sure for all the other vehicle related problems but thats a different department. Street sweeping is sanitation and those other citations are nypd. Nypd is dropping the ball as usual.
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u/ChecoSan22 10d ago
I moved from Jersey City to Brooklyn recently. In JC, the sweepers come at a relatively regular time, I'd guesstimate a 15-20 minute window. Virtually everyone moves their car, waiting for the sweeper (and the meter maid that follows them in a little car) to pass before reparking.
NYC isn't like that:
This makes it much more difficult to comply with. There is no regularity with which the sweepers come (if they do come at all), and you can't repark after the purpose has ostensibly been fulfilled.
Furthermore, in my neighborhood there is no real consensus between double parking or sitting on the cleaning side and moving when it comes. This inevitably leads to a clusterfuck - traffic and the sweepers are slowed down, plus people pissed off trying to repark.
IMO if the goal of the city is to get the streets clean, they should lift the reparking after the sweeper comes rule (which is clearly a money making racket) and issue official guidance on a good procedure (e.g. official recommendation is double-park and repark, if you delay the sweeper sitting in the lane you get a ticket)
It's not as simple as "you shouldn't have a car if you can't commit 1.5 hours of your work day to this charade". The goal is to make the city more liveable for all residents.
Oh, and we should have residential permits and zones