A New York City Driveway: Blessing or Curse?

Featuring Corcoran agents Paul Kolbusz & Sara Gelbard and their listing.

 

****

Many New York City car owners would want nothing more than a designated parking space — such is the desperation many feel in this city so clogged with cars yet so starved for places to put them.

While having a private spot can be an enormous convenience, such a space often comes with headaches unforeseen by those without one.

The reality is that a curb cut — the technical term for the literal cut in a curb that allows access across the sidewalk and into a driveway or garage — is often the only “open” spot on the block. Drivers, looking for an easy place to park their car for anywhere from a minute to a few days, are drawn to these spaces. And the result is that the person who probably paid dearly for the right to pull a vehicle in and out of the driveway at will can do no such thing.

“I’d say one in five times I go to use my car, I’m blocked in,” said Ann Billingsley, a Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, resident who has rented a single-car garage on Bond Street for the last six years.

Ms. Billingsley, a photographer, often has events outside the city, jobs that require her to be on time, which is why she pays $300 a month for the garage. “It’s not like I can show up late to a wedding I’m photographing,” she said. “I don’t have time to wait for a driver to come back whenever it suits them. When I need my car, I really need my car.”

Owners are encouraged to report blockages to the police. If an officer is dispatched, a citation can be issued. Then, according to the city’s 311 website, “If the vehicle has a ticket, and you want it moved, you can contact a private towing company.” The vehicle owner is responsible for paying any towing fees.

It is unclear how many private garages or driveways exist in the city, because the Department of Buildings, which issues permits for curb cuts, does not track them. The department issued 1,593 new curb cut permits in 2015, most of them in Queens and Staten Island. That is a steep drop from 10 years earlier, when 5,257 permits were issued.

Application costs include a $130 filing fee and $3 per lineal foot of curb cut for one-, two- and three-family dwellings, and $6 per lineal foot for multiple dwellings and commercial buildings, according to the buildings department. Installation of a cut also requires a $70 “repair sidewalk” permit from the Department of Transportation’s Office of Construction Mitigation and Coordination. Actual installation of the cuts averages about $12 to $15 per square foot of concrete being poured or replaced and must be completed by a contractor with a license from the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs. The total cost of getting a curb cut can range from roughly $5,000 to $12,000, depending on whether you hire an architect to design it and an expediter to facilitate the permit process.

Proposed curb cuts must meet specific technical requirements, including a seven-foot minimum distance from sidewalk obstructions like trees, fire hydrants and street signs. Parking spaces also cannot encroach on the sidewalk, they must be within the building’s lot lines, and they must measure at least 8.5 feet by 18 feet.

Zoning rules have been strengthened over the years, prompted by concerns from residents and city officials about the loss of much-needed street parking and safety concerns presented by cars mounting sidewalks to gain access to driveways or garages. In 2010, the City Council passed a series of provisions that make it harder to obtain a curb cut: prohibiting parking in front yards in single- and two-family home districts and in lots that are less than 40 feet wide in rowhouse districts. The council also authorized city officials to reject a curb cut that would be “inconsistent with the character of the existing streetscape.”

Driveway and garage owners say enforcement ultimately falls to them. Sometimes this means calling a private tow company, but more often it involves a confrontation with the person blocking the driveway. This can range from a simple request to “please move your car” to verbal sparring, threats and even physical altercations.

“They argue all the time,” Monique Magny, who has lived in the same Elmhurst, Queens, house for more than 30 years, said of parking violators. “They say: ‘This is a street. We can park anywhere we want.’ One guy argued with me so badly, I was scared for my life.”

Ms. Magny, a retired nurse, recalled occasions when she was unable to take her husband, who is blind, to the doctor because her car was blocked in, and many other times she came home late and was unable to get into her driveway.

Once she called the police to report a driver who had blocked her driveway. Two days later, she found a gallon of paint splashed across her front porch, the empty can left tipped on its side, presumably a message from the unhappy parker.

While acknowledging the annoyances, some driveway owners manage to eke a little humor out of the hassle.

“They always say: ‘Oh. I didn’t see it was a driveway,’” said Astrid Solomon, a retired high school art teacher who bought her Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, home in 1972. “And I say, ‘And you’re driving a car?’”

Ms. Solomon, who keeps the business card of the local tow company tacked to her refrigerator, recalled one man who left a note on his windshield suggesting she call him if she needed to use her car.

“He said I should give him a ‘ring’ and leave a message if I wanted to get out of my own garage,” she said. “Oh, I left him a message all right. And I made sure he got a ticket, too.”

Some driveway owners take preventive measures, including plastering “No Parking” signs on their property, parking in front of their own curb cuts (legal, as long as the driver can prove the vehicle is registered to that address), painting their curb cuts bright colors (illegal, and the Department of Transportation will issue a violation) or strategically placing traffic cones on the street (illegal).

A few years ago, Ms. Billingsley was reduced to what she, herself, considered an act of insanity.

“I mean, I really felt like a crazy lady when I did this,” she said. “But when I came out, and my garage was blocked, it occurred to me: If I cracked some eggs on the windshield, I might feel better. So I got some eggs and did it. I immediately felt bad and cleaned it up, but the fact remains, I egged a car!”

Despite the frustrations, curb cuts can add significant value and desirability to a property. A driveway or garage can boost a home’s price by 25 percent, said Paul Kolbusz, a Corcoran Group agent who specializes in Manhattan townhouse sales. “The product is quite limited and there is tremendous demand,” Mr. Kolbusz said.

To put hard numbers to those assertions, he and his partner, Sara Gelbard, recently valued a Greenwich Village townhouse at $15 million, after tacking on an extra $3 million for its curb cut and single-car garage.

Despite the drawbacks, those with curb cuts say a guaranteed place to park is worth the potential hassle.

“Definitely,” said Mary Cole, a longtime Clinton Hill resident with a curb cut. “A driveway is magic.”

Even Ms. Billingsley agreed. “It makes life a lot easier, no question,” she said. “And it’s better, since I’ve put up the sign I had made: ‘No Parking or You Will Be Egged.’ It’s meant to be funny, but I think people take it more seriously now.”

Copyright © 2016 The New York Times Company. Reprinted with Permission.

Please click here to read the article on nytimes.com