The Mayor's Office tonight issued this statement regarding parking on Warren Street and other locations where there once were meters.
With parking enforcement resuming tomorrow, City Hall is sharing the following information about the new parking payment system. These updates reflect the concerns and feedback that have been expressed by the community since the beginning of the new year.
- Parking signs are being installed along the length of Warren and will continue to be placed on streets that had previously been metered;
- On-street kiosks will be installed in the coming weeks; and
- With an eye toward reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities, any person with a valid handicap tag or license plate will not be required to pay for on-street parking or short-term municipal lots.
This decision was made in collaboration among the Mayor, the ADA coordinator, the Chief of Police, and the Common Council President. We hope this policy will alleviate the concerns of residents with disabilities who had previously relied on parking meters and previously unmetered stretches of Warren Street for their everyday needs,
A commissioner's order to follow.
Reminder for Paid Parking Options
For those using Text2Park, text ONSTREET to 44989. Parking can also be paid for by using the ParkMobile app or calling 1-877-727-5730.
I'm predicting that this parking thing will turn into a major snafu. I expect that visitors to Hudson will be coming into my shop and asking, WTF? ~ PJ
ReplyDeleteWill HPD Parking Enforcers be issuing $10 tickets right out of the gate or will it be a type of $0 reminder ticket for everyone trying to get used to this big change that has been delayed for two weeks and poorly communicated on FB? The right thing to do would be the latter for a week, especially on the added 4 blocks of Warren, but I don't expect it. A lot of tickets will be issued tomorrow and Saturday. This morning I saw plenty of parking meter poles waiting to be removed.
ReplyDeleteTo determine what cars are deserving of a ticket, enforcers must scan the plate of every car, and I've been told it can't be done from the sidewalk. Who would want to do that all day long? Making enforcers stand between parked cars just increases their chance of being backed up into. None of this is easier on enforcers or drivers.
People in this town would complain if the sun shined. Honestly, it's neither complicated or expensive to park in Hudson. Put on your grown-up pants, take a deep breath, and see if you can't plumb the depths of a parking app (as most folks in most cities in the US seem to be able to do). With so much shit challenging our lives in this country these days, paying for parking is simple and easy.
ReplyDeleteExcept that until 6 weeks ago it was simpler and easier to pay for parking WITH METERS! And there was no need to change everything by getting rid of the meters. All the city had to do was find the right person to oversee improving what was wrong with the meter system. Instead, Jen Belton and Tom Depietro decided that the whole damn system had to be rearranged.
DeleteThey manufactured a problem and found an expensive solution for it. We'll all be paying for what is sure to be a debacle for years!
Well said Bill. Belton and Depietro should be ashamed for the fiasco they created.
DeleteThis particular display of incompetence involved more than just two people. The parking committee created a plan that, albeit a bit clunky and elaborate, would have been largely workable.
DeleteBut then for some reason, HPD swooped in and took over the roll-out and did it in a weird way. Right now, we only have six of those 16 parking kiosks operational. That was not the plan. At the same time, all parking meters have already been beheaded. They would have come in quite handy right now but they're gone.
Operational incompetence is part of Hudson's DNA and it dates back well into 19th century when they failed at some of the most basic tasks, such as providing street lighting that worked. Clearly, not all that much has changed since then.
A very big thanks to the new administration for listening to the pleas of it's handicapped citizens and offering free parking.
ReplyDeleteDown here at my shop on Warren between 2-3rd and have seen the enforcers twice today writing tickets. This is going to be a banner week for the city coffers! Definitely a bit unfair to change the rules, have no kiosks and signs installed at 8’ on the light poles. I suppose if one were observant they would see all the paper fluttering in the windshields of the other parked cars around them…
ReplyDeleteFirst - whenever you do not like the Parking changes.... remember that the Kamal / Tom regime from 2020 to 2025 brought us this system, the expensive kiosks and ongoing charges, and timing.
ReplyDeleteSecond - just download the app once, save your credit card info, and then with a few clicks you can pay when you park and not chase quarters.
We all do this for other services and apps and it is not rocket science.
If anything.. this will be an unintended stealth tax on tourists/non-residents... who will be less familiar with the change, possibly miss the signage, and then simply get and pay a parking ticket later.... which is still cheaper than paid parking in most cities.
Now with Mayor Ferris and Chief Franklin finally in charge, we will at least collect those parking fines / revenue.
I personally like the new parking regulations, better for businesses on lower Warren! But inadequate signage is problematic. I was able to get the QR code to work after standing on my tippy toes, but I only knew it was above eye level thanks to Gossips. A lot of cars with tickets. I guess eventually this will sort itself out.
DeleteNo doubt this is a scheme by ICE to grab all our data and put us in cuffs. I'm selling my vehicles.... PJ
ReplyDeleteThe next logical and fair step is to offer FREE day parking permits for all Warren Street residents with nowhere to park their car but on the street. No resident should be penalized and forced to deal with the annoyance and extra cost of paid parking in the daytime just because they live on a certain street. Permits would be the fair and right thing to do. Of course, what about people living on side streets or the 700 block of Columbia? Implementing a day permit scheme might be beyond City Hall's abilities, and it means losing money, so don't expect it anytime soon. Resident day parking permits should have been issued ahead of the new and expanded paid parking system, not after.
ReplyDelete