Southern Boulevard Residents Angry Over Loss of Parking to Bike Lane and Receiving Parking Tickets

 

Jose Leon speaks about residents living on Southern Boulevard between East 183rd Street and Fordham Road who have lost parking along the Bronx Zoo on Southern Boulevard to a protected bike lane. Signs went up without notice to area residents, and the very next day tickets were issued to residents who had parked in the new bike lane the night before. 

With tickets in their hands residents wanted to know what was going on, and what was going to be done about the tickets they received for what use to be legal parking until the DOT changed the street sign without proper notice to the community, and where are they going to park now. 

City Council candidate Ischia Bravo told the residents that the city should have provided proper notice, and that she will work with the DOT to see how the resident would not be responsible for paying the parking tickets that were given out wrongly. 

We reached out to 15th Councilman Oswald Feliz who said he was unable to make this event due to being tied up in City Council Committee meetings that he is on. He said he is aware of the situation, and that the problem was with Community Board Six for not notifying the community that the new bike lane was going to be put in. Councilman Feliz would not commit if he was in favor or not of this new DOT bike lane. There was no answer at Community Board Six.

Here is one of the tickets this resident saw on her car when she came down to go to work after parking in a legal parking space the night before.

A car is standing in the new Southern Boulevard bike lane by the Bronx Zoo where area residents have received tickets for parking in.

Signs that went up about the new Bike lane, and residents received tickets for parking in what was made a new bike lane.

A new DOT sign which says no parking from 7AM to 7PM is very confusing as to where residents can park. One resident aid "Can I park in that bike lane after 7PM, or is it the lane of traffic next to the bike lane that I can park after 7PM. In either case all cars must be removed by 7AM.