To: Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre, and Broadcasting
Parking in the vicinity of Eastern Effects Studios
Dear Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre, and Broadcasting,
We are businesses and residents in the Gowanus area close to the newly opened Eastern Effects Studios at 270 Nevins Street. We are writing in order to express our concern that the parking needs of this one business are having an adverse effect on the many other small businesses and residents in the neighborhood. In the short time that Eastern Effects has been in full operation, their frequent practice of cordoning off several blocks of street parking for their exclusive use has made an already overcrowded street parking situation in this area even more difficult. We do not think your support of Eastern Effects should be at the expense of long-established area businesses and residents.
Generally, production companies using Eastern Effects for a film shoot have been issued permits giving them sole right to park on both sides of a number of blocks of our neighborhood. This enormous loss of parking space has meant that numerous small businesses in our area have been unable to plan their own deliveries (including heavy deliveries, this being an area with light manufacturing), and even Fedex and UPS drivers have had a difficult time making their deliveries when a film production is taking place. The residents of this area are also being negatively affected, as they can no longer park their cars close by, some times for days, making everyday life harder for them when it comes to running errands involving their cars.
We understand that the goal of such a studio is to be rented out every day of the week, and we are writing to formally request that your office take into account the needs of others in the Gowanus area as well, some of whom have been here for more than two decades. The character of this neighborhood will change dramatically for the worse if the many thriving small businesses and long-time residents here find that they cannot continue next to a business whose rotating clients are always given priority when it comes to parking in the area.
We do understand that companies renting Eastern Effects require large areas of parking and it is our hope that your office can balance their needs and ours so that all of us can continue to live and work in this area unimpeded. Specifically, we would like to ask that your office cap the number of days that parking permits are issued for film shoots, reserve a section of Eastern Effects permitted area for exclusive use by local residents and businesses, give advance notice of the days that Eastern Effects parking permits will be in effect, and require that all people involved in production make allowances for local deliveries, among other plans. We also ask that you consider working with us to institute a resident parking permit system in the neighborhood.
We appreciate your attention to this letter and to our needs. If you’d like to discuss this further, you can reach Sina Najafi or Susan Karwoska, who have volunteered to be a representative on our behalf, at [email protected] and [email protected], respectively.
Thank you in advance.
We are businesses and residents in the Gowanus area close to the newly opened Eastern Effects Studios at 270 Nevins Street. We are writing in order to express our concern that the parking needs of this one business are having an adverse effect on the many other small businesses and residents in the neighborhood. In the short time that Eastern Effects has been in full operation, their frequent practice of cordoning off several blocks of street parking for their exclusive use has made an already overcrowded street parking situation in this area even more difficult. We do not think your support of Eastern Effects should be at the expense of long-established area businesses and residents.
Generally, production companies using Eastern Effects for a film shoot have been issued permits giving them sole right to park on both sides of a number of blocks of our neighborhood. This enormous loss of parking space has meant that numerous small businesses in our area have been unable to plan their own deliveries (including heavy deliveries, this being an area with light manufacturing), and even Fedex and UPS drivers have had a difficult time making their deliveries when a film production is taking place. The residents of this area are also being negatively affected, as they can no longer park their cars close by, some times for days, making everyday life harder for them when it comes to running errands involving their cars.
We understand that the goal of such a studio is to be rented out every day of the week, and we are writing to formally request that your office take into account the needs of others in the Gowanus area as well, some of whom have been here for more than two decades. The character of this neighborhood will change dramatically for the worse if the many thriving small businesses and long-time residents here find that they cannot continue next to a business whose rotating clients are always given priority when it comes to parking in the area.
We do understand that companies renting Eastern Effects require large areas of parking and it is our hope that your office can balance their needs and ours so that all of us can continue to live and work in this area unimpeded. Specifically, we would like to ask that your office cap the number of days that parking permits are issued for film shoots, reserve a section of Eastern Effects permitted area for exclusive use by local residents and businesses, give advance notice of the days that Eastern Effects parking permits will be in effect, and require that all people involved in production make allowances for local deliveries, among other plans. We also ask that you consider working with us to institute a resident parking permit system in the neighborhood.
We appreciate your attention to this letter and to our needs. If you’d like to discuss this further, you can reach Sina Najafi or Susan Karwoska, who have volunteered to be a representative on our behalf, at [email protected] and [email protected], respectively.
Thank you in advance.
Why is this important?
This petition is for residents and small businesses around the Gowanus area who have seen their routines disrupted by the street parking needs of film productions at Eastern Effects Studios at 270 Nevins Street.