Car owners and some city council members have become increasingly frustrated that in the midst of all the city and state's directives for people to stay indoors, Mayor Bill de Blasio had not suspended alternate side parking, forcing people out into the streets to move their vehicles multiple times a week to avoid a $65 ticket. “People will get into fights and touch each other over spaces. I have to keep moving my car during an epidemic,” one driver told the NY Post. “It’s silly.”
At a press conference today, de Blasio announced that the city would indeed suspend Alternate Side Parking Regulations for one week starting on Wednesday, March 18th, through Tuesday, March 24th. There is a possibility it will be extended beyond that: "We'll see how it goes," de Blasio said.
In an official release, the city adds: "Any New Yorker under isolation who has received a ticket can appeal to the Department of Finance and should provide medical documentation or testimony, which will be taken into consideration when their case is reviewed. For any additional questions call 311. Payment at parking meters will remain in effect throughout the City."
De Blasio also announced today that he had signed an executive order limiting the number of customers allowed in for-hire vehicles, including Ubers, Lyfts, black cars, etc. Only one individual customer will be permitted per vehicle, with the exception of couples that are already together. But de Blasio noted that only "real couples," not people who don't know each other, would be allowed in the same vehicles together. It's unclear exactly how this will be enforced.
Uber had already begun suspending Uber Pool rides throughout the U.S. and Canada earlier in the day. “Our goal is to help flatten the curve on community spread in the cities we serve,” senior vice president Uber Rides and Platform Andrew Macdonald said in a statement.
De Blasio said that as of Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m., the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in New York City had reached 814; that includes 248 in Queens; 277 in Manhattan; 157 in Brooklyn; 96 in the Bronx; and 36 on Staten Island. "We're certainly going to have thousands of cases next week," de Blasio warned. "It's not that long until we hit 10,000 cases. That is a true statement, whether it's next week or some later period."
He added that New Yorkers should prepare for a possible "shelter in place" order, which would only allow people on the streets to get food, medicine and exercise. Governor Andrew Cuomo declared earlier on Tuesday that this could only happen with the approval of the governor's office, but the decision, de Blasio said, will be made in next 48 hours.
