Sources: City to scale back on ‘Dyker Lights’ parking regulations

According to sources close to the negotiations, New York Police Department officials have agreed to scale back on what some Dyker Heights residents have been calling unfair parking regulations, put in place to ease traffic congestion now that another season of the neighborhood’s famous holiday displays is underway.

The commotion began after bright pink signs labeled “No Parking” and “Tour Buses Only” were plastered along 86th Street from 10th through to 14th Avenue, along the park side.

Currently, from 3 p.m. to midnight, now through January 3, sections of the thoroughfare are officially roped off for tour buses coming to and from the storied “Dyker Lights,” but, according to insiders, the NYPD has decided to change the parking plan to reserve space for only three buses along 86th Street.

In addition, one source told this paper, the police will help organize tour bus drop-off and parking on nearby Poly Place.

“We’re not a bunch of Grinches. We love the lights,” lifelong Dyker Heights resident Joseph Cantalupo told this paper in response to the signage, “but no one here was notified of the parking changes before they started, and it’s frustrating.”

Though, according to Community Board 10 District Manager Josephine Beckmann, this is not the first year these parking regulations have been put in place.

“The No Parking area for tour buses was implemented last year following pedestrian and traffic safety concerns raised by Dyker Heights residents about local traffic congestion caused by a sharp increase in charter bus tourism to view holiday light displays,” she explained.

Those issues, she said, included buses unable to navigate turns onto local streets safely, an inability for homeowners to exit driveways, traffic gridlock at intersections, and emergency vehicles being unable to traverse local streets and avenues safely, among others.

We will update this story as more information becomes available.

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