Barry Benepe’s article about 11 Jane Street—across the street from where I live—got the assessment of demand for off-street parking all wrong. Do you really think that workers waving flags to encourage drivers to park is a sign of too many indoor spaces?
Over the last 25 years, as it has morphed into a hot destination, the West Village has likely lost more outdoor parking lots and indoor garages than any other neighbor hood in the city. At the same time, I estimate we have lost over 20 percent of onstreet parking due to various rule changes and arbitrary decision making—like in front of the former Village Nursing home.
We need garages to reduce congestionand related noise…especially on weekends—and to meet the growing demand for parking by wealthier people moving in with cars—just like we need gas stations… which are disappearing.
Further, the mid-block density being proposed is extreme. I thought your paper would’ve come down more strongly about this bad precedent. 11 Jane Street may be the first pure midblock rebuilding that pushes this density to levels we normally see only on corner lots.
This is a matter I hope you aggressively speak out against—another example of our neighborhood’s succumbing to greed over the character that made it worth preserving in the first place.
—Alexander Tobias
