Dates: Thursday, May 11 – Wednesday, May 17
ALTERNATE SIDE PARKING RULES ARE IN EFFECT ALL WEEK
Mother’s Day is Sunday, which means kids, spouses, and others will be out on the town for the day. There’s always much more traffic on Mother’s Day than on Father’s Day, because while moms often cook for dads, dads take moms out to dinner to celebrate. So expect roadways, even ones that aren’t typically busy, to be jammed for the day.
The annual NAMIwalks (National Alliance on Mental Illness) walk will take place Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thousands will gather and march from Fulton and South streets onto Gold Street, proceeding north to the Brooklyn Bridge. They’ll march part way across the bridge’s walkway, then return to Manhattan, looping around City Hall and back to Park Row. From there, they’ll make their way back to the Seaport via Gold Street. Though the walk won’t close streets, it will impact traffic, so expect Civic Center area and Brooklyn Bridge delays.
Also Sunday, the Romania Day Festival, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., will close Broadway between Liberty Street and Battery Place, as well as Whitehall Street between Stone and Morris streets. This could delay Battery Place, impacting Greenwich and Washington streets.
It’s time for NYU students to move out of their dorms for the summer, from Thursday through Wednesday. Moving trucks and cars will cause delays over the course of the week, so expect backups on Third Avenue below 14th Street, as well as surrounding Washington Square Park.
The FDR at the Houston Street Overpass will close from 10 p.m. Wednesday to 5 a.m. Thursday. Heading northbound, take Avenue C to 23rd St. and enter the FDR from there. Southbound, take exit 5 and reenter the FDR via a service road.
From the mailbag:
Dear Transit Sam,
Is it legal to pass a double-parked car on a street where there are solid, double yellow lines if it’s safe, even if your car has cross those lines to get around it?
Anthony
Dear Anthony,
From my read of the law, it is permissible to pass a double-parked car in the scenario you’ve laid out (though remember, I’m not a lawyer). New York State law says drivers cannot drive on the left side these markings. But it also lists exceptions to that rule, including that “when an obstruction exists making it necessary to drive to the left of the center,” you may do so. A double-parked car counts, in my book; just be careful, and always yield right of way to any oncoming traffic before you pull around the obstruction, whatever it may be.
Transit Sam
