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Schumer Attempts To Solve Plaza Parking Problem

The vacant garage is on the Shoreward Drive side of the post office. (Photo courtesy of Google Maps)
The vacant garage is on the Shoreward Drive side of the post office. (Photo courtesy of Google Maps)

Senator urges USPS to sign, seal and deliver vacant garage

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer called on the United States Postal Service (USPS) on June 7 to lease its vacant parking garage to the Village of Great Neck Plaza to help ease the town’s parking shortage. A vivacious community filled with apartment buildings, homes, retail stores, a Long Island Rail Road Station and a number of bus stops, Great Neck Plaza residents and visitors frequently have difficulty parking their cars due to the limited number of spots.

Schumer said that the vacant USPS lot is a waste of federal resources—and space—and is urging the USPS to lease the garage to the Village of Great Neck Plaza so that it can be used by local residents, and free up street parking for residents and shoppers. He also said that the leasing of the USPS’s vacant lot would offer many benefits, and would positively effect the village’s economy as the availability of additional parking spaces would attract future residents to the area and additional customers to local businesses.

“It makes no sense for the United States Postal Service to hold on to its vacant parking garage, which is not only a waste of money but a waste of space in the vibrant Village of Great Neck Plaza,” said Schumer. “The United States Postal Service should lease this lot to the Village of Great Neck Plaza so that it can be used by nearby residents and, in turn, free up space for village residents and shoppers who live and shop in the village’s commercial district.”

Ted Rosen, deputy mayor of the Village of Great Neck Plaza, added, “In this era of increased and constant demand for government resources and of increasing realization that the funds needed to pay for such resources are limited, governments at all levels must work together to ensure that existing public assets are best utilized to meet the needs of the public. Utilization of these much-needed and presently unused parking spaces by the residents of the buildings near the main post office would help fulfill a tremendous need of a substantial number of our village residents. I thank Senator Charles Schumer for his assistance and see this opportunity as a win-win for the public that we all serve.”

The Village of Great Neck Plaza is home to more than 260 retail stores and service establishments, 90 multiple-family apartment buildings, 148 single family homes, approximately 40 office buildings, two four-star hotels, a nursing home, a senior independent living facility and a senior assisted-care living facility. Plus, the LIRR’s Great Neck station is the first Nassau County stop on the coveted Port Washington line. According to the 2015 LIRR Annual Ridership Report, annual ridership on the Port Washington line has risen from 13,307,136 in 2014 to 13,802,816 in 2015, a 3.7 percent increase.

Ease of parking would certainly improve the quality of life for residents and shoppers patronizing plaza businesses.