Glen Cove delays alternate side parking on Nassau Avenue

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The Glen Cove City Council has decided to delay the implementation of alternate side parking signs on Nassau Avenue, which were supposed to go into effect on Oct. 1, following a series of calls from residents who rejected the measure.  

Alternate side parking meant that residents would have to alternate each day on which side of the street they could park, leaving one side clear from 12 a.m. to 6 p.m. Glen Cove Deputy Police Chief Chris Ortiz said during a City Council meeting in July that overcrowding of parked cars on Nassau Avenue has even become a problem for law enforcement and emergency vehicles, which have trouble driving down the street. 

Although police officials explained that alternate side parking was the best solution for these roads, many residents seemed skeptical about whether this venture was worthwhile as alternate side parking is usually conducted in metropolitan cities to make way for street sweepers and snow plows. While the City Council held a public meeting in July regarding the signs, very few members of the public spoke out against the issue at the meeting or at the City Council meetings that followed until the signs were starting to be erected in late September. Grant Newburger, the city’s public relations officer, said City Hall had been inundated with phone calls in the past few weeks, from residents pleading that the city take down the signs. 

“Mayor [Timothy] Tenke and Deputy Mayor Maureen Basdavanos spoke with the police chief on Monday and decided to delay the signs,” Newburger said. “The signs that were up have either been taken down or will be taken down.” 

During a recent City Council meet on Sept. 24, Nassau Avenue resident Mario Mora said that alternate side parking would cause too much of a burden on residents and create chaos among those who rent rooms in their houses, like himself. “I’d have six cars in my property, so we’d have to juggle who’s going to work first, who’s going second . . . what if someone has an emergency and we all have to get out,” Mora said. “It’s ridiculous.” 

Residents were also worried that if alternate side parking were to go into effect people would choose to park in adjacent streets and cause problems there. There was another fear that neighbors would up their use of cones to reserve spots along the streets. Although a majority of residents avoid using cones year-round, the practice is fairly common in the winter and during the annual Feast of St. Rocco’s in the summer. Tina Cammarata, another resident of Nassau Avenue, said that hostility among neighbors would occur if alternate side parking were implemented. 

“There’s no way everyone’s going to fit,” Cammarata said. “You’re going to start a war.”