By Karen Danca and Denis Devine
"I think [the second level] will work. If two-hour parking
is strictly enforced and there is a [parking] lot available,
people will go. The need is more parking spots, anywhere
and everywhere."
Stuart Davis
Owner, Echo Stationers
"We feel that you would have all type of robberies
there, derelicts, drugs, lingering. It would be a danger to
the whole City of Long Beach, really. There would be robberies..."
Georgia Stockdale
Channel Park Homes resident
"The parking lot is not necessary. There's a cab stand
right there, people can walk and there's no need for a six
million dollar project. You could use the money for something
better."
Joshua Goldstein
Lifelong resident, city commuter
"There is a desperate need for downtown and community
parking. This is a long-term, real solution that will go a long
way in solving the downtown parking problem. It will provide
all-day parking for commuters, merchants, and law offices."
Bruce Nyman
Long Beach City Manager
2-story parking deck at LIRR station inspires hope, fear & apathy
For the past five years, city leaders have discussed, developed and fine-tuned the idea of a double-deck parking structure between the Long Island Rail Road station and Long Beach City Hall. The Long Beach City Council has long championed the plan, and on the state level, State Senator Dean Skelos and Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg are both working to obtain funding for the $6 million project.
But does Long Beach really want it? Downtown merchants, with plenty of their own ideas for how to fix the city's parking problems, are divided: some feel the additional spaces near the train station would alleviate their parking woes; others feel they won't make any difference. Residents of the Channel Park Homes adamantly oppose the plan to build a two-story parking facility in front of their homes, calling it a crime magnet. And even commuters, obstensibly those with the most to gain from the additional parking, questioned the need for a second story.
City hopes for state $
Long Beach City officials requested help in attaining approximately $4 million in state funding from State Senator Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) in October 1999. Ten months later, the powerful Deputy Majority Leader agreed to take on the project.
According to Mr. Weisenberg (D-Long Beach), who said he is "actively pursuing and working with Sen. Skelos to obtain the money from the MTA," the reason for this delay "is all part of the budget process." The Long Beach Assemblyman also blamed the delay on limited staff and extensive approval processes.
In a prepared statement, Sen. Skelos said, "Addressing the parking and transportation concerns of Long Beach Island and its commuters must be a priority for the region's future. I believe that our ongoing discussions will result in a comprehensive approach that benefits both local commuters and Long Beach economy."
According to Mr. Nyman, the city hopes to obtain the entire funding for the $5-6 million project from the state, a bulk of which he expects will come from Metropolitan Transit Authority capital funds. Mr. Nyman said he does not expect any of the funding to come out of the City of Long Beach budget.
"This town has been doing so beautifully lately," said City Council President Joel Crystal. "The timing is right and we're on our way... hopefully.
"It still seems far away to me," said Mr. Crystal. "It has taken this long to get to this point, but it is certainly a necessity to relieve the parking issue."
According to City Manager Bruce Nyman, the project would double the existing parking spaces in the commuter parking lot. The proposed parking structure would add a second level of parking spaces above the existing LIRR commuter parking lot north of the bus depot, as well as spaces created above the bus stops themselves. Pedestrian walkways would connect the lots directly to the train platforms, but Mr. Nyman hoped the proposed structure would be used for more than just commuter parking.
"There is a desperate need for downtown and community parking," said Mr. Nyman. "This is a long-term, real solution that will go a long way in solving the downtown parking problem. It will provide all-day parking for commuters, merchants, and law offices."
Shoppers and restaurant-goers in the downtown area of Long Beach have been experiencing "desperate" parking problems lately, said Mr. Nyman. Additionally, people who need to park in this area for an entire day face this problem every day. This has led people who work in stores, restaurants or second-story offices to play what the City Manager called "chalk games" with enforcement officers.
According to Mr. Nyman, people often wipe off the chalk-mark officers draw on their tires to remain parked without being ticketed. Several workers in the downtown area interviewed for this story confessed to playing these "chalk games" at one time or another.
"A few months ago we started strictly enforcing parking in the downtown area," said Mr. Nyman, "and merchants got the message."
Merchants sound off
Pointing across the street from his candy shop to the train station, Bob Morrison, co-founder of Goody's Unlimited, said, "Parking over there is not going to help us. Customers are not going to park that far away to come to our store, and impulse buying will decrease."
While stepped-up enforcement may have opened up a few more parking spaces, lack of parking remains a major concern for many merchants in the center of the city. Many, like Mr. Morrison, are skeptical of the relief promised by a two-tier parking facility.
Mr. Morrison attributed much of the existing parking problem to merchants and office occupants taking away spots from customers. "Workers and store owners are used to parking in front of their own stores," said Mr. Morrison. "Many of them are too lazy to park anywhere else."
According to Mr. Morrison, parking is not a new issue. "About 10 years ago, a woman came into my store," he said. "She told me that she had a chocolate shop on this same block in the 1920's and 30's. When I asked her how business was back then, you know what she said?"
"She told me that it was fine, except that there was not enough parking," said Mr. Morrison, laughing. "This is not a new problem. It's been around forever."
While Mr. Morrison spoke with a reporter, a co-owner of Goody's walked into the store shaking her head.
"Sorry I took so long on that delivery," said Jenn Haskins. "I couldn't find a spot anywhere."
Mr. Morrison suggested many ways to alleviate the parking problem, including stricter enforcement of two-hour parking, more diagonal parking and parking meters, which he said "would make more sense than anything."
His wife Barbara Morrison added, "I'm sure City Hall and the police department would be just as happy to find a solution as the merchants. They must be as tired of this problem as we are."
Leslie Shamus, one of the many lawyers with an office above the storefronts along Park, questioned the necessity of a two-story parking structure.
"The cost is probably so much more than the value of the project," said Mr. Shamus, who said he parks on National Blvd. and walks the half block to his office. "If you're not lazy, there are plenty of places to park."
Diane Gardner of Park Avenue Eyeland also said she always parks on National: "Sometimes I go a little further than one block, but it's never a real problem." But it is a problem for her patients, who arrive later in the day looking for a spot.
"Every single day we hear complaints from our patients," she said. "I don't know if a parking structure across the street will help, but it couldn't hurt."
Down the block from Park Avenue Eyeland, Stuart Davis, owner of Echo Stationers, also remained hopeful. "I think [the second level] will work," said Mr. Davis. "If two-hour parking is strictly enforced and there is a [parking] lot available, people will go."
"The need is more parking spots," he said, "anywhere and everywhere." Mr. Davis also suggested more diagonal parking, especially in non-residential areas of Edwards Blvd.
Neighbors fear crime
The Channel Park Homes, the public housing community between City Hall and the city's water sewage plant, is the nearest residential neighborhood to the proposed project. Its residents have opposed the proposed parking lot from the start.
"We do not want it," said Kathy Williams, a member of the Channel Park Residents' Council. "They have known from the beginning that [this second level of parking] is not in our interest.
"We're not against additional parking, we all need that," Ms. Williams said. "We just do not want this in our backyard."
Ms. Williams called the double-deck parking facility a "hiding place for undesirable crime" and noted with caution a parking garage in Hempstead which became quite crime-ridden before it was torn down.
Georgia Stockdale has lived in Channel Park since it was built three decades ago. She also felt that the parking lot would be "dangerous."
"We feel that you would have all type of robberies there, derelicts, drugs, lingering," Ms. Stockdale said. "It would be a danger to the whole City of Long Beach, really. There would be robberies..."
Eddie Rush, who was the second resident to move into the public housing community, agreed. "I don't think it's a very good idea," he said. "There's going to be too much crime, drugs, people hanging around there, that's my opinion."
Ms. Stockdale said the Channel Park Homes Residents' Council had circulated petitions and spoke with the city administration in the past, voicing their opposition. "But you know how City Hall is," she said, "they always go ahead with it anyway and we're always the last to know."
"If my vote was on the [City] council, it would be a no," Mr. Rush said.
City leaders attempted to address the concerns of those who opposed the project. City Council President Joel Crystal said the new parking area "will be as attractive as possible, landscaped and designed in such a way that will be pleasing to the eye."
Mr. Nyman promised that the double-deck parking area "will not be one of those New York City, Donald Trump-type parking lots."
As for security, both said it would be a top priority with the project. "It will be very secure since it is in front of the police department and it will have [security] cameras," said Mr. Nyman.
Sergeant Michael Tangney, Commanding Officer of the Long Beach Police Department's Traffic Division, said the second tier "will not be a hang-out area" since the "stair towers will be open-air."
While Sgt. Tangney acknowledged that the plans were in their "infancy stages," he said some already-identified safety measures included emergency pull bars that instantly alert Long Beach's fire and police departments.
But to Mr. Rush, whatever security measures the city could come up with wouldn't be enough to keep crime out of the two-tier parking facility.
"They'll find out ways to get there and do what they gotta do," Mr. Rush said.
Commuters not along for the ride
Even those people who would most benefit from the project were not thrilled by the prospect of a double-deck parking lot. Just after he got off the train home from Manhattan, Kevin Ryan, a 31-year-old court officer, said, "I don't think that it's really necessary. People find parking elsewhere." The lifelong Long Beach resident, who has commuted to the city for five years, said the commuter lot "doesn't seem filled on a regular basis as it is."
"There's more we could use our tax money for," Mr. Ryan said.
Another lifelong resident getting off the train home, Joshua Goldstein, agreed. "The parking lot is not necessary, there's a cab stand right there, people can walk and there's no need for a six million dollar project," Mr. Goldstein said. "You could use the money for something better." He was also afraid the lot would attract more tourists to Long Beach.
Mr. Goldstein takes a cab to the LIRR station because he can not park "anywhere near the train station," but even if the two-story parking lot were built, he said he would "still take a cab no matter what," because "it would be too much pain and a hassle."
Unlike them, Laura Suder pays the city $150 for Long Beach's annual commuter parking permit, allowing her to park in the LIRR commuter lot. Though she felt that was a lot of money, "it's worth it for the convenience. I don't have time to take a bus in the morning."
As for the parking garage, Ms. Suder said, "There doesn't seem to be an overwhelming problem. There's always room in the parking lot." Though she didn't think the two-tier parking plan was necessary, she seemed to feel it couldn't hurt, either.
