Bloomberg Administration Looks to Reduce Brooklyn Off-Street Parking

From City & State's Heard Around Town:

The Bloomberg administration is looking to cut in half the amount of parking required in downtown Brooklyn residential developments, an attempt to address a glut of off-street parking in the area and encourage more affordable housing. The Planning Department this afternoon is launching a public review of the proposal, which would also provide more parking for residents, employees and visitors. "Most of the parking garages in downtown Brooklyn are under capacity and oftentimes a significant number of them are just empty," said Councilwoman Letitia James, who said requiring less parking space would incentivize developers to build more affordable housing units. "When it gets to the City Council, I'm going to take a leadership position because I believe that downtown Brooklyn desperately needs more affordable housing because there's a crisis in affordability for middle-income and moderate-income families. The issue will come down to whether or not we should gently encourage developers to build affordable housing or mandate it." Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden said that downtown Brooklyn has "some of the best transit infrastructure and one of the lowest rates of auto ownership in New York City" and that the proposal aims to "rationalize the parking regulations."

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