With little fanfare, the officials of the Village of Great Neck Plaza have developed plans to totally rebuild the public parking lot on Grace Avenue. This will entail the installation of Muni-Meters and removal of all the mature trees.
Muni-Meters are revenue enhancers in that no one is allowed to glom leftover time from the previous parking space occupant. A municipality may collect revenue in excess of the daily take at a conventional parking meter.
Additionally, in the future the fee is easily raised, as the necessity for exact change is offset by the ability to process debit or credit cards.
However, it is my understanding that the village is not short of funds, and that the meters are in place simply to ensure parking availability for shoppers who would otherwise be competing with commuters. This plan does not create new parking, it simply creates an additional obstacle for those who wish to park.
The trees are incorporated into the medians in which the existing parking meters are located. The removal of the medians is meant to create a little more space and to facilitate snow clearing. However, it is possible to remove the medians while leaving the trees. The trees may not be in the ideal locations, but their retention would indicate that the village respects their value, just as they endeavor to maintain the appearances of the shops and the historic buildings. Their presence is not some afterthought, they were installed at an earlier time when the Plaza wished to exhibit its sense of urbanity.
This type of endeavor is evidently red meat for those who are engaged in planning and construction. It is not going to solve any of the chronic parking problems in the Plaza.
Their solution awaits a more visionary administration. This is simply the bad Robert Moses, the one who paved Paradise.
Terry Eckstein
Great Neck
