Brooklyn’s Parking Break Is Over. Here’s Why

PROSPECT HEIGHTS/CROWN HEIGHTS— The City ended a summer experiment that let drivers park during some street cleaning hours in Brooklyn after officials found dirtier streets and more parking violations.

The eight-week pilot, which ran from Aug. 3 to Sept. 25, reduced alternate-side parking enforcement from twice a week on each side of the street to once a week on select blocks in Prospect Heights and Crown Heights.

Alternate-side parking rules require drivers to move their vehicles during designated hours so Department of Sanitation crews can sweep the streets.

Instead of improving compliance, the experiment produced the opposite result.

The share of drivers who followed the remaining parking rules fell from 73 percent to 62 percent, according to data shared by City Council Member Crystal Hudson.

Sanitation officials also recorded 913 parking violations during the pilot, compared with 455 in the month before it began, despite cutting enforcement days in half.

The department ended the experiment after inspections and street photographs showed crews could not clean the roads adequately.

Inspectors also found that building owners did less to keep sidewalks clean during the pilot.

Hudson, who requested the experiment after constituents complained about frequent parking restrictions, had hoped fewer required car moves would encourage drivers to follow the rules.

The pilot covered a small section of Brooklyn stretching from Atlantic Avenue to Eastern Parkway, between Vanderbilt Avenue and Grand Avenue.

Hudson said that some drivers struggled to adjust their routines, while others may have decided paying a parking ticket cost less than moving their vehicles.

A parking ticket for violating alternate-side rules costs $65.

The experiment's results come amid a broader challenge for the City's sanitation department, which estimates about half a million drivers fail to move their cars for street sweepers each week.

When vehicles remain parked, crews cannot reach parts of the roadway, leaving debris behind.

The department also warns that street litter can block catch basins, which help drain stormwater and reduce flooding.