Brooklyn Business Owners Battle Parking Nightmare on McDonald Avenue

Parking Chaos on McDonald Avenue

• 🚗 Business owners in Gravesend, Brooklyn, are facing a parking nightmare along McDonald Avenue, citing issues with broken cars, trash, and blocked traffic.
• 💡 Jennifer Beretta, owner of Skyline Billiards, reports that double-parked cars obstruct driveways, creating dangerous visibility issues and impacting customer safety.
• 🚧 Totaled cars are left occupying parking spots for weeks, effectively becoming private parking lots for street mechanics.

Traffic Congestion and Sanitation Issues

• 🚦 The overflow of parked cars into traffic lanes causes significant congestion and prevents essential services like street sweepers from operating.
• 🗑️ The Department of Sanitation (DSNY) states they only have jurisdiction over damaged cars without license plates, not those with plates being used for repairs.
• 📈 DSNY has increased vehicle removals in recent fiscal years, with 26,65 vehicles removed in FY25, up from 12,932 in FY24.

Enforcement Challenges and Frustration

• 👮 NYPD has issued 158 parking summonses this year in the area, including for sidewalk parking and double parking, and towed 13 cars.
• 🗣️ Business owners express frustration that enforcement often targets only one illegally parked car while many others remain untouched.
• 🎟️ Workers admit they have nowhere else to store cars and that tickets are simply passed on to customers, indicating a lack of effective deterrents.