We call on the de Blasio administration to review its policy of authorizing the use of public areas for film productions on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
While we recognize the revenue stream such productions often provide for the city, the fact is that parking is extraordinarily limited in that area of mostly high-rise apartment buildings, and earmarking regular parking spaces for the exclusive use of vehicles that are part of the production process serves to greatly exacerbate the problem.
This is even more of an issue for observant Jews, many of whom park their cars in certain spots on Thursday nights after the alternate side parking rules are no longer in effect at those locations and will not be again until the following Tuesday.
Just imagine, however, what happens when someone parks on a Thursday night and passes by his or her car upon returning form work Friday afternoon to be confronted with the impossible task of locating a parking space in the remaining minutes before the onset of the Sabbath because unannounced temporary signs inform that the site has suddenly become a no-parking zone in order to accommodate a film production.
