West New York Mayor Felix Roque has unveiled a parking plan that would include no evening parking fees for resident and exploring the possibility of adding diagonal parking spots, though his main opposition is again saying the sentiment is too little, too late.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“The current regulation allows for West New York residents that have a resident sticker to park at municipal lots for free after a long hard day’s work, most of them are not able to find free parking when they return to work between the hours of 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.,” Roque wrote in an April 8th letter to Parking Authority Executive Director Amiris Perez.
” … After careful consideration, both myself and Commissioner Colacurcio, would like to propose that the beginning time for free parking be changed to 5 p.m. in order to accommodate our hard working residents.”
The mayor continued by requesting that such a proposal be placed on the agenda for the next parking authority board meeting.
In a statement released yesterday, he also suggested that the WNYPA conduct a study to assess if diagonal parking spaces would be viable in town.
New Beginnings West New York, the team headed by Public Safety Commissioner Gabriel Rodriguez, responded in a Facebook post claiming that these “last-minute efforts” will fall on deaf ears.
“For 8 years our current leadership in West New York hasn’t created any new parking spaces, even while the area is fast becoming one of New Jersey’s most desirable locales. We want to work with the community to ensure that we are able to bring a permanent solution to the parking issues in WNY,” they wrote.
“Don’t believe Roque’s last-minute efforts to propose solutions. He had eight years. His time is up! …. Our slate of candidates will look into solutions that range from opening up more street parking to residents and looking to create new garages to handle the influx of traffic to our city. We can find solutions together.”
Roque was first elected in 2011, while Rodriguez was appointed in January 2015 before seeking re-election with Roque in May of that same year.
Rodriguez made remarks in a similar vein when criticizing a $500,00 surveillance camera system Roque wanted installed back in February.
A couple of weeks later, Roque announced that he would be fundraising to pay for the cameras out of pocket, which Rodriguez called “a publicity stunt.”
With just under five weeks to go until the polls open on May 14th, all eyes are on West New York as 16 different candidates vie for five seats on the board of commissioners – who will ultimately then select the town’s next mayor.
Article is wrong.. Parking Lots are not free to Residents.. Must pay til 9m and also have a Resident Decal or Buy a $5 pass at pay station 7 days a week. Please update this misinformation. Resident Do Pay in Parking Lots..