Locals want to put brakes on Tesla, carshare pilot program, by Brian Abate

Approximately 15 local residents met with local leaders and officers of the 76th Precinct at 191 Union St., where they voiced their frustration over a lack of parking spaces–especially regarding the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Carshare program—and what they considered to be the reckless use of Tesla cars. Locals meet the police the first Wednesday of every month at the Community Council meeting in the precinct basement. This was at the recent June meeting.

DOT launched its two year pilot Carshare program on May 31st, According to the project’s website, there are two carshare sites—one at Van Brunt and Dikeman Streets and the other at Van Brunt and King Streets—with two cars each.Multiple residents said that Citi Bikes already takes up too many spaces in the neighborhood and argued that this new program, which allows companies such as ZipCar and Enterprise to take up spots, only exacerbates the problem.

DOT’s Alex Keating, the director of special projects, believes that this two year pilot will actually reduce the number of cars on city streets, which would free up parking spaces. The idea is that people who only rarely use cars can rely on this program instead of owning their own car. According to a press release from DOT, “for every vehicle in a carshare program, up to twenty households can forgo the need to own a car, fighting congestion and making our air cleaner.”

“This is a small scale project in 14 neighborhoods, including Red Hook,” said Keating. “The program is a pilot and if it doesn’t work, we’ll remove it.”

One item of specific concern was tickets given to local residents that were unaware of the new designations.

“Let me know if you or anyone you know has recently been given a ticket or been towed,” said Leroy Branch of the DOT. Branch said there is supposed to be a two-week grace period for the new spots reserved for the cars used in the carshare program. Branch said that if there is a mistake, he’ll work to make sure all of the money is refunded.

In addition to parking concerns, many residents voiced their frustration that Tesla cars were being tested in Red Hook because they said that Tesla cars have been speeding. Several days earlier, a video was posted on Twitter which showed a Tesla vehicle narrowly missing a cyclist on Imlay Street. Local councilman Carlos Menchaca responded to the tweet, stating that the situation was “unacceptable” and that he was attempting to schedule a meeting with the store’s manager.

Captain Megan O’Malley of the 76th Precinct said she would try to find solutions to prevent Tesla cars from speeding, although it seemed unlikely that Tesla cars would stop being used completely on city streets. O’Malley acknowledged that reporting such incidents to 311 often results in generic responses that don’t accomplish much. She said if anyone witnesses a Tesla speeding, they should report it to a Neighborhood Coordination Officer.

O’Malley said that she would try to give this issue more attention and added that there was positive news regarding crime in the neighborhood.

“Both crime and violent crime are down in the last month,” said O’Malley. However, there had been issues with bike theft and car break-ins. She also reminded attendees of the importance of closing car windows, locking up bikes, and keeping bikes indoors to prevent theft.

“Out of sight, out of mind,” said O’Malley.