Nosy Neighbor: What Are Cars Doing on the Esplanade?

I was wondering if you had a bead on this: I found these cars parked behind Stuyvesant High School last Thursday. This area used to be a car-free haven. I find it dismaying that there are cars there, particularly by the water. —H.

“The cars in the first pic [above] are in space we  have authorized for contractor parking,” explains Battery Park City Authority spokesman Nick Sbordone. “This is for the ongoing North Esplanade Restoration Project (preventive maintenance on the timber piles and sheeting), which is scheduled for completion by Memorial Day. The car by itself on the corner of the Esplanade [below] shouldn’t be there, so if you see this happen again, please do send along and we’ll address.”

Got a question? Email tribecacitizen@gmail.com.

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9 Comments

  1. Seriously, what is it about the (mostly) men who work construction?! Are they afraid of the big scary NYC subways? Pleeease! Commuters are expected to take public transport or pay for parking like everyone else! Why are we indulging such
    childish demands and making these areas less safe & less enjoyable for the people who PAY huge cc’s, mortgages, and rents to live here? We have enough cars on the street, let’s keep them off the park space!

  2. Why should contractors get to park their private vehicles where others can’t? If they can’t find a legal parking space, pay for parking or take the subway!

  3. Contractors, please don’t take the subway! Your lot can’t help but sexually harass everyone in sight. A car parked in a random pedestrian area is preferable to unwelcome groping in a crowded train car.

  4. I respectfully disagree with these comments. The fault here lies with the BPCA. This spokesman’s response seems right in line with all the other arrogant things you read coming from the BPCA. Both parking uses are unsightly and offensive to the constituents of BPCA, who the BPCA could clearly not care less about, but they “have authorized” the one use, so it is okay. BPCA should have told the contractors to jump in the Hudson (metaphorically speaking) rather than kowtow to them and furnish them with free parking at the parkgoers’ detriment.

    This is what comes from “absentee” management of the BPCA.

  5. Does anyone know who is authorized to park on the “No Standing” west side of River Terrace in NBPC? I have assumed it is 9/11 memorial employees because when it opened I noticed parked cars on that side of the street. Or maybe it is construction workers from the WTC area.

    • That is the real parking abuse in that area. There is zero enforcement by the traffic agents and police department of the no standing zone all along that side of the street. There was one car which I noticed that had not been moved for several weeks. It was easy to spot because the car was surrounded by snow from the latest snowstorm and not moved until well after the snow surrounding the car effectively melted. Never ticketed or towed.

  6. My understanding is those all belong law enforcement in the counter-terrorism units stationed in Brookfield. They have cards in their windshields.

  7. Great. I have been looking for a long term Parking spot.

  8. A number of these comments are very funny and one or two, completely off the wall.
    Contractors and construction workers sexually harass women more than other professions? I didn’t know!

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