It’s standoff at the corral. This time, at the NYC Department of Transportation’s approved e-bike corrals being installed in the street beds around Pelham Bay.
While a total of 38 new corrals are being created to hold the vast inventory of shared Veo and Lime scooters and bikes, some are in the street bed, necessitating the removal of a parking space.
To counter this project, local residents James Rousseau and Deborah Melendez are circulating a petition demanding the corral installed at 3150 Roberts Avenue be removed and relocated to a more appropriate location. The petition states that most of Pelham Bay’s pre-war apartment buildings were built without providing off-street parking. In addition, the newer buildings and those on the drawing board offer little parking relief.
The corral outside 3150 Roberts Avenue, they believe, will push parking demand onto the side streets which are populated by mostly 1 and 2 family dwellings.
The petition clearly states, “Our request is not an objection to shared e-scooter programs, bicycle programs, or the city’s efforts to improve transportation options. Rather, we believe that this specific location is inappropriate because it removes valuable residential parking from a neighborhood already experiencing severe parking shortages.”
Adding: “We are also concerned that residents were not provided a meaningful opportunity to participate in the decision-making process.”
The petition also asks NYCDOT to consider alternative locations on nearby commercial corridors or underutilized public spaces where the scooter program can continue without reducing residential parking.
Besides the Roberts Avenue and Bruckner Boulevard corral, eight other locations have been designated for street bed installations: Hutchinson River Parkway East and Wilkinson Avenue, Colonial Avenue and E. 196th Street, Mayflower and E. 194th Street, St. Theresa and Mulford Avenue, Mahan and Buhre Avenue, Mulford and Buhre Avenue, Mahan and Roberts Avenue and Crosby and Middletown Road.
NYCDOT will install ‘No Standing” signs at each of these locations.
Community Board #10’s Municipal Services Committee will take up the matter at its Wednesday, September 9 committee meeting at 3165 E. Tremont Avenue.
