DOT Agrees To Greenfield’s Friday Pre-Pay Muni-Meter Plan In Borough Park

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has agreed to allow Borough Park residents to pre-pay parking meters on 13th and 18th Avenues on Friday mornings, announced Councilman David Greenfield today.

This follows Greenfield’s push for the DOT to agree to pre-payment of meters on 16th Avenue. Drivers will be allowed to pay the meters up to four hours in advance at 3pm on Fridays for meters that are usually in effect until 7pm.

This will go into effect on 13th and 18th Avenues, between Ocean Parkway to 60th Street, by the end of November. Other areas in Borough Park and Midwood will be studied over the course of the next year.

It is critical for many Sabbath observant drivers and their guests who cannot feed the meter after sundown on Friday, according to the councilman. In the winter months, the Jewish Sabbath begins as early as 4pm, preventing many residents from parking on the major avenues and exacerbating Borough Park’s parking crisis.

This solution would add dozens of new parking spots on Friday in the neighborhood, Greenfield said.

“My many thanks to the Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, the Department of Transportation, and the De Blasio administration for taking into account the unique needs of Orthodox Jewish New Yorkers. Being able to pre-pay the meter is vital for those who observe Shabbos and will really help alleviate the pre-Shabbos parking crunch in Borough Park,” said Greenfield.

Senator Simcha Felder also commended the city for working with Greenfield to accomodate the needs of Borough Park’s Orthodox Jewish community.

“This reasonable accommodation is long overdue, and is a win-win for everyone. People will be able to park and the City doesn’t have to worry about losing any revenue. I thank the de Blasio Administration and Councilman Greenfield for all their efforts to make this happen,” said Felder.

Greenfield has long advocated for drivers in New York City. This past July, Greenfield’s muni-meter legislation went into effect citywide. The law has three parts: It allows drivers to pre-pay New York City’s muni-meters up to one hour before the meter regulations go into effect, it forces meters to shut off and not accept payment when the driver is not required to pay for parking like in the evening, and it shuts down muni-meters when they run out of paper receipts. Additionally, Greenfield passed the law that gives drivers a 5-minute grace period before being ticketed for Muni-Meter violations, and passed a law that ended the impossible-to-remove neon window stickers for alternate-side parking violations.

Greenfield is also a long-time advocate for the needs of Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish constituents. Greenfield and Community Board 12 have an agreement with the DOT to only do major road repairs in the summer to avoid traffic issues. Recently, Greenfield and the Community Board negotiated an end to 13th Avenue construction on Fridays and most recently Greenfield, along with Councilman Brad Lander, secured funding in the budget to open four community libraries on Sunday to serve the needs of the community.

Update [3:30pm]: This article has been updated to include the cross streets of the designated area.