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 Yoni Hikind Proposes Idea to End Bklyn’s Alternate Side Parking Problem

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On Tuesday, September 26, city council candidate Yoni Hikind, who has faced criticism for lacking formal governmental experience, introduced a proposal that blames the congestion and parking problems plaguing Brooklyn residents in the 44th District on alternate side of the street parking regulations.

In the 1950s, the Department of Sanitation originally introduced the policy requiring drivers to move their parked vehicles on designated days during specific time frames in order to give the oversized mechanized street sweepers a chance to clean the roadways. This policy creates even more difficulties in areas where it is already hard to find parking. 

Hikind proposes that the Department of Sanitation replace its large sweeper trucks with smaller, mobile vacuum units, which have the capacity to clean the streets without requiring vehicles to be relocated. 

Hikind told VIN News, “This is an idea that almost kills four birds with one stone. Using state of the art efficient street vacuumers doesn’t require drivers to move their cars, potentially eliminates traffic congestion, restores parking availability during peak hours and reduces unfair penalties on citizens.”

Many places, including Atlantic City, Baltimre, Toronto, Paris and Brussels, already use the new generation of vacuums and they are cleaning the street better than the outdated predecessors, said Hikind. 

According to compact sweeper and vacuum manufacturer Madvac, there are several other locations that are also using the new machines, including Township, New Jersey, Bridgeport, Connecticut, Keane, New Hampshire and Woodbridge Austin, Texas.

Hikind told VIN, “I would love to be able to have a pilot program in our area. This could be a game changer.”

Hikind sent out a letter describing the continuing growth of the district and his proposed Cleaner Streets plan from which he says he received positive feedback from Mayor Bill de Blasio, the Department of Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. 

From talking with residents in the area, Hikind formulated his plan. 

Hikind said, “Since day one I have described my candidacy as a job interview and I have been walking the streets asking people what they would want me to do to improve their lives. The most common things I hear about are daily life issues, like traffic.”

Hikind researched how other cities solved congestion issues, and came across the 

Researching how other cities have coped with congestion problems, Hikind came across the street cleaning vacuums. This is just one of many ideas he hopes to enact in order to make district resident’s lives better. 

Hikind told VIN, “It’s not only elected officials who can come up with good ideas. Citizens can be extremely helpful in solving the problems we face in our day to day lives. Government can get stale at times and when it comes to problem solving sometimes you need to think out of the box.  We owe it to our community to continue pushing the envelope and I have every reason to believe that this can make a difference in people’s lives.”

By Hannah Hayes

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