Trucks Seeking Shortcut Create Logjam on Cobblestone Street
Residents of Leonard Street in Tribeca are raising the alarm about dangerous traffic conditions created by government employees parking illegally on both sides of the narrow street, while large vehicles struggle to pass with just inches of clearance.
Madeleine Kiersztan, board president of the cooperative at Ten Leonard Street, appeared at the February 4 meeting of the Transportation Committee of Community Board 1 (CB1), and said, “we’re a small cobblestone street with very small width compared to some nearby streets in Tribeca, and what we’re seeing right now is a lot of congestion issues, with parking causing the main problem.”
“Most of the cars are parked there are federal government building parking,” she added, in a reference to federal office building located nearby, at 26 Federal Plaza. Staff for more than a dozen government agencies headquartered in this building are issued placards that exempt them from being ticketed or towed, effectively allowing them to park illegally with impunity. “They just park there, sometimes at an angle sticking out.”
Committee member Brandan Thompson added, “of course the NPYD’s First Precinct is also around the corner,” noting that police officers are issued similar placards.
Ms. Kiersztan explained that GPS navigation systems advise drivers to avoid designated truck routes to the Holland Tunnel in favor of side streets with less traffic.
Committee chair Dr. Betty Kay said that trucks are authorized to use “Varick Street, West Street, Worth Street, and Hudson Street. Leonard Street is one of the few that is not a truck route, but everything around it is, and it’s stuck right in the middle.” She also noted that the weight of trucks with three or more axles passing over Leonard Street damages its cobblestone surface.
Ms. Kiersztan displayed images of trucks that she and neighbors at Ten Leonard Street have guided through the narrow passage, with inches to spare on either side. More commonly, she said, “a truck will come down that street and cannot get through, and everyone will have to reverse. The only solution in those moments is to back all the cars up. And I do that myself, to get them out of the street. It becomes a honking nightmare – and this is every week.”
She asked that CB1 recommend to the City’s Department of Transportation that all legal parking be removed from the north side of Leonard Street, but Committee co-chair chair Jess Coleman noted that parking is already restricted by construction regulations and commercial loading zones on that stretch of curb, and raised the concern that prohibiting parking would have little practical effect: “Effectively, you can’t park there now, right? It’s really a placard issue, and this block is one of the worst for placard parking. Almost every single car on the block is there illegally. You can make any sign you want, but they’re going park there until we do something about placard parking.”
CB1 chair Tammy Meltzer asked, “how do we get enforcement? I mean that’s really the point here. I’d tow every single one of them, if I could.” She suggested that residents and business owners on Leonard Street gather signatures on a petition to ask City Hall for intervention and also build a record of 311 complaints. “Photograph and report every one of them, every day, and post it all on social media under the heading ‘placard corruption,” she suggested.
Committee member Karie Parker Davidson proposed making it physically impossible to park on the north side of Leonard Street, either by making the sidewalk wider or blocking the space with trees in large, concrete containers.
The discussion closed with agreement that CB1 would contact DOT and review options for remediating conditions on Leonard Street, along with a consensus that the Board will renew its push to galvanize enforcement efforts against illegal parking by vehicles bearing government placards.