Rollback of Controversial Paid Parking Program on UWS that Triggered Uproar

A controversial parking change that killed long-standing alternate-side-of-the-street parking on 14 blocks on the Upper West Side in favor of three-hour metered parking requiring a phone app is being rolled back after the midnight implementation of there system triggered a local uproar.

The signs are to come down “within 48 hours,” Gale Brewer told the West Side Spirit. “I’m very pleased.” She said she got the word from Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro on Aug. 26. “I’ve very grateful to Randy Mastro and City Hall,” she said.

City Hall relayed the news to the West Side Spirit as well.

“As confirmed by City Hall, the Adams administration is reinstating . . . parking spots on the Upper West Side where, as theWest Side Spirit recently reported, the city Department of Transportation instituted three-hour metered parking earlier this month, transforming many meter-free stretches between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue into pay-to-park territory,” William Fowler, deputy press secretary to Mayor Adams told the Spirit.

He later clarified that the number of spots being reconverted along the 14 streets will actually be 70 parking spots.

He also released the email that Mastro sent to Brewer the morning of Aug. 26 informing her that the new signs would be coming down probably within 48 hours.

“While I hope you agree that DOT was well-intentioned in advancing a new UWS parking program, announced generally by press release in October 2024 and reviewed by the local community board, we agree that the agency could have done more to inform and include the public in the specifics and timing of the program’s implementation,” Mastro said.

“This is especially so since so many use cars in this UWS neighborhood and affordability is a concern for all New Yorkers. We have therefore decided, as you request, that we will have DOT roll back this parking plan and restore the status quo ante until such time as DOT has had the opportunity to solicit more public input on the specifics of the plan to be implemented and to give more public notice before implementation of whatever specific plan is ultimately adopted.”

The change was swift. Brewer wrote to Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez on Aug. 21 to express her “outrage.”

As soon as the new parking plan went into effect, Brewer’s office began receiving dozens of calls from angry constituents. “People were unbelievably upset,” she said. “The rollout was a disaster,” she wrote to Rodriguez.

By Aug. 22, Community Board 7 chair Beverly Donohue had also joined in the protest. While DOT had made a general presentation about changes under its Smart Streets program, at no point did they mention that the street changes on residential side streets off Columbus Avenue between West 73rd Street and West 86th was about to start. CB7 was “blindsided,” said Donohue. And the Spirit covered the growing uproar. (“Brewer, CB7 Outraged by DOT’s Stealth Move Killing Alternate Side Parking on Some UWS Streets”)

The New York Post also joined in and picked up our story on Aug. 23, adding that nearly 200 parking spaces were gone with the move, which involved about 14 blocks on a 14-street stretch.

Mastro said he expects the change to be accomplished within 48 hours and the paid app signs limiting parking to three-hour segments would be removed. The paid phone-app parking rules were to be in effect from 8am to 10pm each day, a 14-hour stretch.

The alternate-side-of-the-street regulations allowed drivers to park for free seven days a week, except for the 90 minutes two days a week when street sweepers were supposed to clean the streets.

Mastro also revealed that there was a grace period in effect even when the new signs took hold. That should come as a relief to some drivers who were already hit with parking violations during the first week it was in effect. It started on Aug. 11.

“I am also told that there has been a grace period in effect since last week’s changes went into effect to allow residents to adjust to these new regulations without facing enforcement, so please know that no one should have received any fines for non-compliance,” Mastro wrote in his email to Brewer.