Alternate Side Parking returns to pre-pandemic enforcement in NYC
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- After more than two years, Alternate Side Parking rules in New York City are back to the pre-pandemic frequency.
At the start of COVID-19, former Mayor Bill de Blasio reduced the number of days drivers had to move their cars for street cleaning, saying at the time that people weren't leaving their homes and it was an unnecessary burden.
But the Department of Sanitation has said its resulted in dirtier streets, with roughly half of drivers deciding not to move their cars at all and instead deal with a possibly weekly ticket.
Now, the rules have been fully restored beginning Tuesday, and drivers should expect to move their vehicles twice a week.
Posted regulations are once again in effect, and the rules apply for the entire time posted on sign.
Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the pandemic policy change had a disproportionate effect on the amount of cleaning the agency could do.
"Restoring APS to twice a week should more than double the amount of cleaning we can and will do," she said. "It's not about money grabbing, but it's really caring for your neighbors, for our community, because it's not just one street. Your garbage that you might have just littered on your block doesn't just stay there."
The restoration of the parking rules will be part of an $11 million funding boost for the sanitation department, which includes the purchase of new, nimble street sweepers designed to clean the city's network of bike lanes.
Violators will be facing a fine.
Tisch said restoration of Alternate Side Parking comes includes the rehiring of 41 workers who had been cut in 2021.
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