DOT Proposes 700 Percent Price Hike To Park In Queens Lot

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Commuters who live in the Rosedale section of Queens say it's a deal to park in one lot and jump on the Long Island Rail Road into Manhattan.

With a quarterly parking permit, the cost comes out to about $1 per day.

But now the Department of Transportation is proposing eliminating the permits and raising the parking costs nearly 700 percent, CBS2's Hazel Sanchez reported.

On Thursday, local commuters, led by City Councilman Donovan Richards, rallied at the West Parking Lot, located next to the Rosedale LIRR station on Francis Lewis Boulevard and North Conduit Avenue. They demanded the DOT reconsider its plan to eliminate the parking permits and instead charge drivers $8 for 14-hour parking.

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People who use the lot said the hike came without any warning.

"They did so without any real input from the community and we're not going to stand for it," one resident said.

Richards said the city pulled a fast one.

"People work. They have children in daycare. We need to make sure we're giving enough advance notice to people so that they can budget and prepare themselves for massive increases like this," Richards said.

CBS2's Sanchez reached out to the DOT, but the agency did not immediately respond.