Parking Problems For LIRR Commuters In Syosset About To Get Worse
SYOSSET, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - Parking problems for Long Island Rail Road commuters who use the Syosset train station are about to get worse.
Parking lots are filled to capacity at Syosset train station, causing commuters to take risks. That's prompted a new crackdown.
"A lot of fear for a lot of people," one commuter said.
Fear of towing and tickets, despite paying for a town permit.
"I just took an Uber here," said one commuter.
"I had to park all the way at the deli," said another.
The business community is fed up with overflow commuters in private lots.
"So the alternative is to park where?" CBS2's Jennifer McLogan asked one commuter.
"If you go down about four blocks down."
"On a residential street?" McLogan asked.
"Yes, that's the only choice."
That's got local homeowners seeing red. Jack and Lauren Faimon lived in Syosset for 26 years and have never seen so many commuters parking on their streets.
"We've left notes on the cars and say please don't park here," Lauren Faimon said.
"A hazard for the kids getting off the school bus because it creates blind spots," said Jack Faimon.
The Town of Oyster Bay just voted to ban parking on nearby residential streets and is now putting back "No Parking" signs that had been removed.
Oyster Bay has commuter lots in Syosset, Hicksville, Bethpage, Glen Head, Locust Valley and Massapequa with 6,500 available spaces. The town has issued 22,030 permit stickers in 2018.
That raises some questions among residents:
"Why sell permits when there aren't enough spots?"
"An overabundance of permits... so the town can make more money," one said.
Oyster Bay town officials didn't respond to CBS2's calls. Already on edge in Hicksville, where the garage has closed for three months, prompting LIRR riders to park at the former Sears lot across from the Broadway Mall: Thousands of commuter cars as far as the eye can see, McLogan reported.
Commuters aren't happy paying more for permits and struggling daily to find a space. They're demanding the railroad and the town use their fares and taxes to do something to create more LIRR parking.
The LIRR owns and operates about five percent of system-wide parking and is exploring solutions such as decked parking, satellite parking and ride sharing.
