To find a parking spot in Sheepshead Bay, you gotta work the angles.
The city will create angled parking spots on a long block of E. 17th Street, Councilman Chaim Deutsch (D–Sheepshead Bay) announced on May 8, which he hopes will help alleviate the neighborhood’s chronic parking woes.
“People are always complaining about parking,” he said. “This will help people in the neighborhood and everyone else.”
The Department of Transportation has preliminarily agreed to allow angled parking along one side of E. 17th Street — a wide, one-way, residential street — between Avenues X and W. The angled spots will increase the number of spaces on the block by 45 percent, according to Deutsch.
Deutsch said he has been pushing the city to increase the number of spots available throughout the neighborhood, and that this block was an easy call because of the width of the street. He previously helped get the city to create angled parking spots along Avenue P between E. 23rd and E. 27th streets.
The Department of Transportation confirmed that work will begin soon. A spokeswoman for Deutsch said it will likely start within one to two months.
Southern Brooklyn residents have long complained about a lack of parking. In April, hundreds of locals protested a city plan to install bus lanes along Kings Highway, which would have taken away some 100 spots. The local backlash forced the city to halt the plan.
The local civic honcho welcomed the progress in addressing the parking issue.
“We need all the parking we can get,” said Community Board 18 chairwoman Theresa Scavo. “You can’t find parking anywhere near there.”
Another community leader said that he supports the E. 17th Street plan, but pointed out that streets such as Sheepshead Bay Road and Emmons Avenue have the worst parking issues in Sheepshead Bay, and are still waiting for a solution.
“They should take away all the ridiculous no standing signs on Emmons,” said Bay Improvement Group president Steve Barrison. “It would increase parking overnight.”
Deutsch is also sponsoring legislation to suspend certain parking restrictions near schools when classes are not in session, among other proposals, to help with the parking problems in the area.
Parking isn’t the only transportation concern in greater Sheepshead Bay, as many residents take public transit, and don’t drive. One Midwood man said he supports increased parking, but wants to see more done to help those who take buses and subways to get where they’re going.
“He should also realize that the world doesn’t revolve around parking,” said Martin Samoylov. “Many people in his district do not own or drive a car but rely on mass transportation, which is in need of improvement.”