So which is it then? Is this tiny side street in Astoria called Dorothy Place (as the DOT’s sign designates) or Private Place (as the tea green wall relates)? Well, the street marker is right, but that painted pronouncement on the wall isn’t exactly wrong either. As the silver gate suggests, those words reinforce the message that this is one of the city’s “private streets.”
Information is pretty scant, but according to a New York Daily News article from August 9, 2010, there’s about 900 of them across the boroughs. Anyone who lives on one has the power to set the parking rules there. Now that’s quite a perk, but the News also cited this underlying drawback: “Property owners are responsible for paving [their streets] and fixing [the] sewers.” As a resident of Bevy Place, a private street in the Bronx, expounded: “If a pipe breaks or a sewer line goes, you would have to chip in and pay for it.”
And that’s precisely what was demanded of the residents of Colonial Gardens in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn back in January 2008. After a water main ruptured and knocked out their heat and hot water for three days, they had to “dig up $10,000 to pay a private plumber to make permanent repairs.” Flabbergasted, they planned on suing the city to get their money back. As the Daily News reported on February 26, 2008, however, they didn’t have a case. During a meeting of Brooklyn’s Community Board 10 to discuss the intent, District Manager Josephine Beckman said: “It may seem unfair, but [city] policy states that even though they pay taxes on their property, they are still responsible for all infrastructure repairs.”
Which brings us to last month’s city council meeting. On January 16th, one of the bills under consideration was #1071-2016. If enacted, it would “create a task force to study private streets including an evaluation of possible city acquisition.” When asked for her opinion on the bill, Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Polly Trottenberg remarked:
Because private streets are typically not built or maintained to city standards, each one can present unique challenges and acquisition can create an enormous expense and complexity for the city costing tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. Therefore, DOT has serious concerns about this bill, and believes the time and attention to complete a study and certainly any acquisition would take substantial resources away from other key priorities. Again, we’re always willing to discuss specific street concerns with Council Members.
So for the time being, I guess the city’s private streets will remain as they are.
(Photo by Riffchorusriff. February 27, 2017.)
