Parking is an ongoing issue in the City of Yonkers and everyone seems to know it but the Administration.
Every section of the City of Yonkers has parking issues and has so for many years. The Administration has taken a stance that fewer cars are better for the city. Hence, parking is a very low priority. This can be seen in the vast number of parking variances that the City and its departments allow developers seeking to cut costs of building.
Many of these developers tell us that the cost of housing in the City of Yonkers is now so high that people cannot and will not be able to afford to own cars. They go so far as to present statistics to show that we do not even need parking here.
So who is correct in this ongoing story?
According to the 2020 Census, we have an average income of 75 thousand dollars. Yet, most families have two cars or more depending on the age of their children. On the West side, the income level is somewhat lower than on the east. Moreover, the west is far more densely populated.
Both sides of Yonkers have parking issues and this is because families need cars. They need cars for getting to work or moving their children around the city. Most families have two and need these two cars no matter what their income level is. The lack of efficient public transportation and the extremely expensive ride-share or cab methods do not work.
We do have those in our community who will tell us we need to take the greener option. That we should make use of public transportation as our main source of getting around the city. This assumes that the county of Westchester will provide this transportation. Furthermore, that the frequency and capacity of this transportation would suit the needs of our areas. This part of our infrastructure today does not exist. We are not getting this help from the County even though our local representatives lead the existing County Board of Legislators.
Today, we have numerous vehicles parking in what are illegal spots, ie fire hydrants, bus stops, and corners where no parking is permitted. There is very little traffic enforcement because the officials know there is nowhere for these citizens to park. A blind eye is turned as a way to placate those who work and come home to find no place to park.
How do we resolve this issue?
One way would be to build new municipal garages in the City of Yonkers. We all know that the existing ones are a success because they are always full of City-owned cars that need parking spaces and cannot find them anywhere else.
Overdevelopment and the willingness of our City officials to grant these developers the right to not provide adequate parking is only going to exasperate this problem for many years to come.
We ask our City officials to step out of the gamesmanship that is so common today and step forward and advocate for its citizens.
