TOOK THEIR SPOTS BACK
Outcry halts hated parking program
A crumpled summons for turnstile jumping helped police track down the man they say committed the first murder in Central Park in 17 years.
Police found the victim, a man whose identity has still not been confirmed, covered with a blanket on a terrace overlooking Lasker Pool on East Drive at the park’s northern end on Aug. 6. Three days later, after police issued an artist’s sketch of the victim, they found his alleged killer — because cops found the summons discarded near the bloody crime scene, Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea told reporters Thursday.
After cops found the summons, detectives brainstormed with NYPD transit officers, who remembered where on the subway they’d seen the suspect before, Shea said. When the transit cops went to that station, they saw the suspect, Brayan Suazo, 19, again trying to jump a turnstile, Shea said.
Upon his arrest, Suazo made statements incriminating himself in the killing, said Shea. Suazo faces murder and robbery charges. He remains held without bail. A controversial new parking program has been kicked to the curb in a Brooklyn neighborhood where outraged residents complained about lost spaces and hundreds of dollars in towing fees.
Residents along Greene Ave. in Clinton Hill took a victory lap Wednesday after their concerns forced the city to pump the brakes on the unpopular “Residential Loading Zone Evaluation” program, a plan designed to curtail double parking by trucks unloading goods and taxis and for-hire vehicles unloading passengers.
“We are adjusting some program locations based on community feedback,” a Department of Transportation spokeswoman said in a statement.
What that meant for Sharon Holliday is that she was able to park near her Brooklyn brownstone for the first time in weeks without fear of getting a ticket or being towed.
“I was ecstatic,” Holliday said.
Last month, the city quietly erected signs on her Greene Ave. block and along streets across the city designating certain stretches as “loading zones” that prohibited parking for most of the day.
Not only did that significantly reduce the number of parking spaces in the area, but the nearly overnight change last month left some irate residents with hundreds of dollars in tickets and tow fees.
Residents said the new signs were installed with no warning on July 17, and they were hit with punishing fines. Cars in violation of the new regulations were booted, and their owners were given two hours to pay the $185 boot removal fee. If they did not pay the fee in time, the cars were towed to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where they had to pay an additional $185 towing fee plus a $60 fine to retrieve their car. Total cost: $430. Holliday said residents gathered at the Shirley A. Chisholm Post Office on Fulton St. Saturday for a “Congressman on Your Corner” session featuring Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn).
“All of the concerns were about the signage along the residential streets that took away parking spaces,” Holliday said. “It was just an unbelievable situation. We just have to continue as a community to be informed and aware.”
Now that the loading zone signs have been removed some residents will be able to get their money back.
“We are working with the Department of Finance to dismiss any tickets issued within five days of the parking restriction changes,” the DOT spokeswoman said.
Refunds would be limited to cars ticketed or towed within the five-day grace period, she said.
The pilot program will still go forward in parts of Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island.
“This is what happens when a community comes together,” said Renee Collymore, a local Brooklyn activist and former assembly district leader. “City agencies shouldn’t feel they can just storm into a local neighborhood and just do what they want.”