 Borough President Vito Fossella stood with leading members of Community Boards 1 and 2, the leaders of several local civic associations, and local residents to oppose Intro. 1138, the Universal Daylighting Bill that is currently under the consideration of the City Council.
If passed, the law will mandate daylighting, the act of removing parking in the vicinity of a corner to improve visibility, within 20 feet before the crosswalk of every intersection across New York City. The Department of Transportation estimates the bill will eliminate roughly 300,000 parking spots across the City - nearly 50,000 on Staten Island alone. It has also publicly stated that the changes the bill calls for will cost $3 billion - more than double the agency's current annual operating budget. At the press conference, in the heart of Great Kills, Borough President Fossella argued that the "one-size-fits-all" approach is not practical and does not make sense for the issue of street safety. In a place like Staten Island, where owning a car is a necessity, not a privilege, particularly because our borough is a transit desert, he argued that universal daylighting is poised to be a major disruption on people's lives. "For a variety of reasons, among the lack of mass transit options, people across Staten Island need their cars, and we also know that parking is at a premium," said Borough President Fossella. "For whatever reason, there is an effort in the New York City Council to take away 300,000 parking spaces across the City. And then what happens if you park on the corner? You'll have to park somewhere else. It'll be a residual roller-coaster effect up and down the block." While daylighting may be necessary in certain intersections on Staten Island, the Borough President argued that the "cookie-cutter" approach is going to "take away something that is very fundamental to a lot of people" and do far more harm than good. He also relayed the issue of Universal Daylighting to the City of Yes, which will enable more density on Staten Island through allowing accessible dwelling units and eliminating parking requirements on large-scale developments - ultimately increasing the demand for parking. The bill is currently referred to committee. Comments are closed.
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