Reduction Of Alternate Side Rules In Greenpoint Put On Hold: City

GREENPOINT, NY — Drivers in Greenpoint and Williamsburg won't get a previously announced break on alternate side parking days because the neighborhoods' streets got dirtier, the city said.

The Department of Sanitation put the plan to reduce the number of alternate side parking days on hold after the neighborhoods' cleanliness rating dipped below the city's threshold for six months in a row, a spokeswoman for the agency said.

Streets cleanliness ratings are created by inspectors from the mayor's office and a 2010 City Council law allowed neighborhoods that score above 90 percent for two years to request a reduction of alternate-side days.

In June, the agency announced they would drop the amount of days street sweepers would hit Greenpoint from four to two days after the neighborhood hit their scores, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported. Sanitation said it would take about a year for the reduction to start.

"The ASP car moving game will finally have some relief," Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, who pushed for the reduction, told the Daily Eagle. "I know that North Brooklynites will keep the area clean because reducing the number of ASP days has been one of my constituent’s biggest requests."

However, the law also allows the Sanitation Department to reverse the decision if the cleanliness score fall below 90 percent for three months and the neighborhoods' score dipped below that for six months last year, the Greenpoint Post first reported.

A spokesman for Lentol's office told Patch they hope the city will continue the plan if the area cleans up again for three straight months. They expect the rollout to be quicker this time since most of the planning is already done.

Image: Nicholas Rizzi/Patch