By Harold Egeln
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

BROOKLYN – “Curb back our curb cuts and give us back our public parking spaces!�

That's the rallying cry from harried Brooklyn drivers, as ever more illegal curb cuts, built at a cost of up to $2,500, on car-clogged streets are driving them mad from Bay Ridge to Carroll Gardens, neighborhoods with several curb cuts and complaints about them.

Council Member Vincent Gentile (D-Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights) is leading the charge in sponsoring new legislation which got a City Council public hearing in Manhattan last Thursday. The hearing addressed four proposals to deal with the ever-growing problem of homeowners creating a cut in sidewalk curbs for a new carport to park their vehicles on what had been front yards.

"Given some of the recent re-zonings that have been enacted, illegally created curb cuts are not only an act of pure selfishness to maintain a private parking space, but it also undermines the integrity of our blocks and the benefits achieved through our re-zoning," said Council Member Gentile. The hearing was held by the Council's Transportation Committee, and was chaired by Councilman John Liu of Queens.

Community Board 10 in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights has a high number of curb cuts, both legal and illegal. "Illegal curb cuts diminish the number of on-street public parking spaces," said District Manager Josephine Beckman. "Illegal curb cuts have also altered the residential landscape of many pristine tree-lined one and two-family row house blocks because front gardens are removed and replaced with cement paved carports."

"It was a really productive discussion," said Joanne Seminara, chair of Board 10's land use and zoning committee. "The discussion was about a coordinated effort to identify and eliminate the illegal curb cuts."

The Department of Transportation (DOT) takes care of the cuts and the Department of Buildings (DOB) get the complaints, but they do not coordinate their efforts, she said. "We're looking to protect every public parking space. No one has been looking at this with a discriminating eye."

Some residential blocks have more curb cuts than others, gobbling up public parking spaces. There are three such illegal curb cuts in Dyker Heights on 71st Street between 10th and 11th avenues, for example, where stop-work orders were issued.

“Area residents are frustrated because there is currently no city government remedy for violators who install curb cuts without a permits," said Beckman. "At present, violations remain until the sale of the property.�

Initial curb cut applications are $100, but the cost of constructing a curb cut, usually nine feet wide, is around $2,500, according to Pro Concrete Contracting (from "Curb Your Enthusiasm" op-ed by Harris Silver in "City Streets").

One big problem, both Beckman and Gentile noted, is the self-certification for proposed cuts. They are done by an engineer or architect selected by the property owner rather than by the city.

Curb cuts have been a problem in Carroll Gardens, as noted by Gary Reilly of Community Board 6 in his testimony. The DOB and DOT have been issuing curb cut permits to allow drivers to park their cars in their front yard courtyards.

This situation has been noted over the years especially, from First Place through Fourth Place where the spacious front courtyards are clustered. Not all homeowners bother to get permits.

Community Board 6 has discussed the issue and voted for the city to take action, recommending that no further curb cuts be issued.

Gentile has introduced two bills -- Intro 213 and 620 -- to deal strongly with the illegal curb cuts and one -- Intro 217 -- which addresses mid-block curb cuts frequently seen at "T" intersections.

Manhattan’s Councilwoman Gale Brewer has also introduced legislation, Intro 639. "The city has seemingly no idea of how may illegal curb cuts there are," said Brewer.

"With this package of bills, I'm hoping to have the city incorporate illegal and 'T' intersection curb cuts into what it is already doing. Right now, that is not the case," Gentile said.

The first of Gentile's bills, Intro 213, requires city agencies to survey all existing curb cuts, both legal and illegal, and requires notification of the local community board on curb cut applications. It would eliminate professional certificates of plans, (self-certifications done by property owners).

Intro 620 would require the illegally created curb cuts already in place to be restored to comply with Department of Buildings regulations, and make those responsible liable to penalties.

Intro 217 would require pedestrian ramps at mid-block curb cuts to be marked. Council Member Brewer's Intro 639 would require all curb cut applications to be reviewed by community boards and the Department of Transportation.

© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2007
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