New Anti-Parking Sensors Installed In Massapequa Park

The official debut of the Village's new electronic parking determent system was announced Monday at the meeting of the Massapequa Park Village Board.

it took about eight hours to install the new technology earlier in the day, but the 35 Street Smart Automated Parking Solutions electronic sensors were set up in various no-parking areas on Park Boulevard. They're ready to begin a free, one month-long testing period to gauge their effectiveness, according to Mayor James Altadonna.

"We're just going to be taking the data for now...we're not going to be issuing any tickets," he said. "We're just going to see if it's feasible for us to go forward with this."

The hockey puck-sized Street Smart sensors are currently installed in areas on Park Boulevard where illegal parking has caused continuous safety concerns, such as in front of near the intersection of Park and Clark Boulevard, as well as in front of crosswalks, fire hydrants, and designated No-Parking areas.

When the devices sense an illegally-parked vehicle, they will inform Village parking enforcement officials via cell phone, who will then come and, if warranted, issue a ticket to the offending vehicle.

So far, Altadonna said that resident and merchant reaction to the Street Smart has been mixed, mostly due to misinformation about the proposed extent of the program.

“We’re not going to be putting it in all of the parking spots...I could see an argument against that,“ he said. “We’re only putting it in spots were people shouldn’t be parked anyway, where you’re already breaking the law if you’re parking there, where there’s a safety issue. We’re trying to get that message out.”

Another item covered at the meeting was the official authorization that will allow the Mayor to sign the renewed one-year Taxi Franchise Agreements between the Village and Long Island Checker Cab. Included in the contract is a $1.99 ride flat fee for all Massapequa Park residents to any location within the Village. Seniors ages 60 and up will receive free cab service within the same area.

Capital One Bank, Flushing Bank, Citibank, and Cutwater Asset Management- New York CLASS were also officially designated as the Banks of Deposit for all monies received by the Village. All checks drawn against these accounts under the amount of $75,000 require one Village board member signature, while checks over the amount of $75,000 require two.

Mayor Altadonna, is a Capital One Bank customer, and abstained from the vote use these banks for that reason, which was nonetheless passed by the Village Board.

Also covered at the meeting was the authorization of the Village Administrator to advertise for a Public Hearing to be held on Monday, November 14, at 8 p.m. The hearing will be in regards to the possible instillation of stop signs on Broadway at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue for north and southbound traffic.

The next regularly-scheduled meeting of the Massapequa Park Village Board is on Monday, November 14, at 8 p.m.