News 12 Brooklyn Picks Up on Church Parking Flap

By on December 7, 2009 10:36 am in Brooklyn Heights

Yesterday, News 12 Brooklyn covered the Henry Street parking flap regarding First Presbyterian Church parishioners parking in the bike lane seen on BHB last week.  The issue was first raised by nabe blogger Ink Lake, who posts that the situation remained the same yesterday.

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  • nabeguy

    HF, I know this situation has a lot of people seeing cross-eyed but check the spelling in your headline.

  • Homer Fink

    Copy editor is in Bali on holiday.

  • AEB

    La publici-tay!

    A good thing, I’d say.

  • my2cents

    I like that their first clip shows the biker going the WRONG WAY down the one way street.

  • http://inklake.typepad.com P

    To my2cents,
    Yeah – I was there when she shot that, and I pointed that out. It was a cold day, and not a lot of bikers; but when the reporter was in the church interviewing, a couple of cyclists came by, with kids strapped on the back.

  • ClarknHenry

    I live right next to the First Presbyterian Church and have complained many times to parishoners about their parking practices… to no avail. They all put placards in their windshields saying that they are in church. It is particularly bad in the summer months when the bike traffic multiplies exponentially. What the clip fails to mention is that Calgary Baptist rents the church every single Sunday afternoon, and their four vans are parked in the bike lane for another four hours… minimum, putting the bike lane totally out of commission for one of the two most heavily used days. These churches were build for neighbors in Brooklyn Heights, hence there are no parking lots. I can understand wanting to generate revenue by renting to other congragations, but not when the lack of space makes doing so unsafe. Heaven forbid they should park in a lot a few block away and walk to church.

  • PJL

    That’s interesting… was wondering why so many people would drive to church if they lived in the parish….

  • my2cents

    PJL, I have no idea why so many people drive to church. My only thought is maybe some are former Heights residents who now live elswhere in the city or in Long Island and still want to go to that church. I don’t think these cars belong to Heights residents…why give up your parking spot just to drive a few blocks, right?

  • Arch Stanton

    If there was a god he’d tear down the churches and build free public parking garages….

  • Andrew Porter

    In fact, there was a church just down the corner at Clark and Henry, which was built when Flatbush Avenue Extension was built, destroying a church there. Eventually that church’s congregation moved away, and it was replaced by the current apt. building. You can see what it looked like from the photos in the restaurant on the corner. Then there was the Church of the New Jerusalem, on Clark from Fulton Street to Monroe Place. So that’s 4 churches within 2 blocks.

    Hey, they didn’t call Brooklyn “The City of Churches” for nothing.

  • Lisa Hom

    No one has mentioned when parents park in the bike lane Monday thru Friday while picking their kids up from the preschool program putting cyclists in danger once again. So, it isn’t just on Sundays that this happens.

  • David on Middagh

    There already exists a parking lane on narrow Henry St.

    In fact, there are parking lanes all over the neighborhood.

    If neighborhood residents and others weren’t allowed to store their private vehicles in the public streets on a semi-permanent basis, there would be plenty of spaces for Church services and other temporary occupation.

  • Sticky

    I am glad that someone picked this up. that stretch of Henry is dangerous even for experienced cyclists. With cars double parked it get very narrow and merging with pedestrians walking out from blind spots around cars it is scary. Just last night the church had multiple vans parked in the bike lane when they have a driveway.

    I am glad the person interviewewd spoke well… The congregation did not have eloquent/relaxed speech. Alas, that would be an argument for the Occult post.

  • Billy Reno

    So I suppose it’s cool to do laps around the sanctuary during the sermon?

  • RatNYC

    Hey DoM, so you are saying that it is not cool for private individuals to use public space to park their vehicles (and should therefore be banned), but it is cool for private organizations, such as churches, to use that public space. gGot it. Just one question, do religious organizations pay taxes? cause I do.

  • Phil M.

    Yes, the biker is proceeding AGAINST TRAFFIC, and that is just about the most dangerous trick a biker can perform. Taking over the center lane in the right direction,when one needs to, is not dangerous at all. Oh, to live in a society where people educate themselves before taking to the roads.

  • Winston Smith

    A possible solution?
    Some other cities have parking spots that allow one to park for a limited time, for the purpose of loading/unloading or very quick business; typically about 15 minutes, these free spots are available for all, not just commercial vehicles (like we have here).
    Lets say, the city removed a few “long term” parking spaces on each block and replaced them with temporary spots that would allow such short term parking. That would allow people a realistic opportunity to do what they need to do without having to block the bike lanes, fire hydrants, double park, or drive around in circles. These spots could revert to overnight parking after say between 8:00 PM and AM, depending on the area. The infrastructure of traffic agents is already in place to enforce the time limit.
    As far as the church parishioners they need to: drive and park legally, take mass transit, walk, or ride a bike to their destination… Just like everyone else.