As city institutions shutter amid coronavirus, alternate side parking remains in effect

First the lights went out on Broadway, and New York's world-famous museums closed their doors.

Then the public schools, a lifeline for more than a million children, were shuttered. Bars and restaurants were ordered to close, except for takeout service. The Statue of Liberty closed. The City Council suspended operations indefinitely.

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Yet through it all, one New York institution has survived the escalating coronavirus outbreak: alternate side parking.

In one of the last and least-loved vestiges of New Yorkers' normal routine, those who own cars are still expected to move them during certain hours each week.

"People often like to joke that the world could be coming to an end but alternate side parking rules would still be in effect," Council Member Justin Brannan said in a recent tweet.

Despite growing pressure, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday there's a legitimate public health rationale for keeping the rules in place, since street sweepers will not be able to get through if cars are not moved, and filthy streets would not do in the midst of a pandemic.

"It's a pain in the butt. We all understand that, but it's there for a reason. It's because that is what allows the street sweepers to keep our neighborhoods clean," he said on PIX 11 Morning News. "I am worried about a city in the middle of an epidemic that gets less and less clean. That's not good public health practice."

The city is also bracing for a massive hit to its budget due to the outbreak, and would lose additional revenue if ticketing was ended.

Politicians have called on the mayor to suspend the rules so that residents are not forced to leave their homes unnecessarily, some sheepishly acknowledging parking is not the most urgent concern at the moment.

"This one is easy: suspend alternate side parking," Council Member Keith Powers said in a tweet. "No one believes that this is priority number one, but it feels like one of the easiest things to do."

"Is worrying about alternate side parking during a time like this silly? Absolutely! And that's my point," Brannan said in another tweet. "There are much more important things for us to worry about right now."

Council Speaker Corey Johnson called it "completely insane" that alternate side parking remains in place.

"It should have been suspended yesterday. It should be suspended today. It hasn't been. It's an easy call to make," he said Tuesday on "The Brian Lehrer Show." "You're sending mixed messages to New Yorkers if you are telling them to stay home, but then you're telling a senior citizen or someone else you need to go out and sit in their car and move it and then move it back."

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams sided with the mayor, saying the suspension of parking rules would offer no public health benefits.

"It keeps some normalcy & clean streets. And yes, it's annoying," Williams said in a tweet.

De Blasio, who initially resisted calls to close schools and shut down bars and restaurants before deciding to do so, may yet pull the plug on alternate side.

"We may well decide to cancel it. That's what we're trying to factor in right now," he said Tuesday morning. "We're going to be reevaluating that today and we might make a change as early as today."

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