REMARKS
Council Member Joann Ariola comments on DOT's response to Intro 104
1:41:50
·
150 sec
Council Member Ariola questions why emergency vehicles sometimes have difficulty accessing streets due to obstructions or poor notification of road changes.
- She asks why fire trucks sometimes need to extend ladders across entire closed streets to reach buildings
- She questions why ambulances cannot access open streets during emergencies
- She criticizes lack of communication from DOT to community about bike rack and lane installations that remove parking
- She argues new legislation will require DOT to notify communities before making street changes
- She says the legislation was proposed due to constituent complaints about lack of parking and obstruction issues
Joann Ariola
1:41:50
As far as the the 104, we can't do enough to save people's lives.
1:41:58
You're saying that you do all of this.
1:42:00
You work with your sister agency to make contact with FDNY.
1:42:04
So where is the disconnect?
1:42:05
Why are we seeing fire fire engines having ladders going across an entire closed street just so that they can get to a a building that's on fire.
1:42:17
Why do we see ambulances not able to go into open streets when someone's having a heart attack?
1:42:23
Where is the disconnect in the notification?
Margaret Forgione
1:42:27
Okay.
1:42:27
First, on the parking removal, you mentioned both bike racks and bike lanes.
1:42:34
For every city bike station, we do inform and work with a community
Joann Ariola
1:42:37
I'm not talking about a city bike.
1:42:39
I'm talking about just the regular bike racks
Margaret Forgione
1:42:41
Okay.
Joann Ariola
1:42:41
That just pop up.
1:42:42
And even if it's in the wrong spot, we have a lot of commercial corridors in our area, and a lot of parking is really at a premium.
1:42:51
And when you put in 5 or 6 bike racks in parking spots and take up 3 or 4 parking spots for our brick and mortar store keeps.
1:43:03
That's a problem.
1:43:04
It's a problem that can be alleviated if you just had communication.
1:43:08
But as I said, you're operating in a silo and you're not operating at a burrow level.
1:43:13
You're operating not knowing the community.
1:43:16
So what I think is that intro 103104 will hold you accountable to let us know, let the fire department know, to make sure that safety is put first to make sure the community is put first and to make sure that everyone can can have input, meaning our community board, and and the council members.
1:43:36
We cannot just feel these complaints each and every day because people waking up to no parking in front of their homes.
1:43:46
I mean, how much more could it slow you down?
1:43:49
Look at how long it takes just to get a 1 way sign up.
1:43:53
15 days of notification is not burdensome.
1:43:58
It's what you should be doing.
1:44:00
It's what we're asking you to do.
1:44:02
It's legislation that we're putting forth because we were asked to do it.
1:44:06
Agent, every piece of legislation that's before you right now, was put together because our constituents asked for it So instead of pushing back, we need to find ways to make this happen.
1:44:18
Thank you for the extra time share.