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CNG Boro Politics

New space is a scofflaw paradise

By Gersh Kuntzman
The Brooklyn Paper
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The Brooklyn Paper / Julie Rosenberg
DOT’s wrong: The Montague Street BID fought to get an “ambulette parking only” zone, but it is often occupied by city cars.

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A Montague Street business group’s attempt to make it easier for ambulance drivers to drop off patients at a clinic on the street is being stymied by the very agency that helped set up the parking in the first place — the Department of Transportation.

As this not-so-shocking photo shows, a DOT car was parked the other day in the “Access-a-Ride Bus Stop” in front of 189 Montague St., a building housing several Long Island College Hospital Clinics.

The DOT had only just helped the Montague Street Business Improvement District create the space so that ambulette drivers would not need to double-park and block traffic while they discharge their cane-wielding patients in the middle of the street.

“We were so happy that DOT set up the space for us — in fact, they did it without much hassle at all,” said Chelsea Mauldin, executive director of the Montague Street BID.

“But since it was created in November, we have had a lot of problems with placard parking in that space,” she added, referring to city and state permit-bearing cars parking in the newly created space.

“The other day, there was even an NYPD car in there,” Mauldin said.

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Mauldin reiterated that she was pleased by the way in which DOT and New York City Transit, which regulates ambulettes, worked together to create the spot — but said she was now working with the NYPD to ensure that the space remain unoccupied so that it can be available when needed.

The Brooklyn Paper’s photo speaks for itself — but not for the Department of Transportation, which sent over a statement expressing its concern that its employees and others were misusing the space.

“We are glad to provide parking for the ambulette service,” the statement said. “This DOT vehicle was illegally parked … and we are taking steps to prevent future occurrences.”

©2007 The Brooklyn Paper

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