Thurs., Dec. 4 – Wed., Dec. 10
ALTERNATE SIDE PARKING RULES ARE SUSPENDED MONDAY FOR IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.
Royal gridlock alert! Prince William and Duchess Kate are making their inaugural trip to New York this Sunday. The first stop on the royal itinerary is a visit to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, so expect gridlock as the couple makes their way to Lower Manhattan. After that, the excitement will be elsewhere in the city, with an excursion to the Nets game Monday and then a gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The royal couple leaves Tuesday, but follow me on Twitter @GridlockSam for the most up-to-date news.
Holiday season is in full force! Here’s what you need to know as we head into the merriment: Shopping areas throughout the city will be jammed now through the new year, especially the rows along Broadway from Union Square down to Canal St. This Friday is a gridlock alert day! The remaining official N.Y.C. Gridlock Alert Days for 2014 are Dec.11, 12, 17, 18, and 19. These are days when the city (and Transit Sam!) advises people to use mass transit as a way to reduce the heavier than usual traffic congestion.
On West St./Route 9A the southbound left lane will close midnight to 6 a.m. Thursday at the following streets: West Houston, Canal, 14th, and 23rd.
From the mailbag:
Dear Transit Sam,
The snow season is almost here and I’ve been thinking about street cleaning rules during bad weather. When the streets are covered with snow, the street cleaning machines don’t usually drive by. Are street cleaning rules still in effect when this happens?
Lisa, SoHo
Dear Lisa,
When the city is hit with a snowstorm, the first parking rules to be suspended are sanitation rules (street cleaning/alternate side parking). Some winters can also see meter suspensions as well. Pay very close attention to announcements or visit https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/home/home.shtml to verify because in most cases, only street cleaning rules are suspended.
When the weather is very severe, you may hear that a “Full Snow Emergency” has been declared. This means that standing and parking are prohibited on all snow emergency routes, which are designated with “snowflake on red” background signs. If there’s a sign conflict (if, for instance, there are also A.S.P. signs on the block), the snow emergency rule would take precedence. Let’s cross our fingers for a less snowy winter this time around!
Transit Sam
Email your traffic, transit and parking questions to transitsam@downtownexpress.com. Gridlock Sam’s 2015 Parking Calendar is available online as a free download and through the Gridlock Sam store as a printed copy for $3 shipping and handling ($1 for each additional calendar). To access the download link, follow me on Twitter @gridlocksam, or subscribe to my newsletter at gridlocksam.com.
