Gravesend Neck Rd: No Longer a Place to Park All Day

A worker at the New Great Wall Chinese take-out, across the street from where the picture above was taken (1419 Gravesend Neck Road), told us that he noticed the new meters on the south side of the street two or three months ago and that the meters were installed on a portion of the north side of the road “a couple of years ago.”

Now that there are meters prohibiting parking for more than two hours at a time, commuter parkers have taken note. One man we spoke with – a Florida snowbird retiree who still has a home in Marine Park and visits Brooklyn a few times a year – told us,

For me, it’s not much of a problem, because I just come here once in a while when I’m visiting my house and family and need to get on the subway, which is a whole other mess — but, I remember when this place hardly had any cars.

Gravesend Neck Road was known as a relatively quiet street, traffic-wise. The numerous businesses lining the road attract mainly nearby residents, who prefer getting to know their local merchants as opposed to shopping on busy Avenue U.

Commuters looking to avoid bus fare and tired of the mile long walk to the Gravesend Neck Road station from the boondocks of Gerritsen Beach, let’s say, would drive to Neck Road and park all day. The road was known as one that was safe and quiet, one without meters, where the commuter could come back from their long day at work in Manhattan and not have to worry about a parking ticket.

Referring to the lesser used local train station, the blogger known as Chicken Underwear, who grew up in Sheepshead Bay, but now resides in Park Slope, said, “why does everybody from Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach and Coney Island have to stop there when the trains are running local?” That the city sees Gravesend Neck Road as the next parking meter cash cow suggest an answer to his question. They recognize that many people are frequenting the area.

As for the residents who are now missing parking spots, they’ll just have to cut an illegal curb on the sidewalk in front of their home.