Gianelli Addresses Residents Continued NUMC Parking Concerns

Safety and parking issues continue to plague residents in the community surrounding (NUMC).

NuHealth CEO Arthur Gianelli updated residents on the hospital’s continued efforts to combat parking problems in the local neighborhoods on Monday night, noting that “there has always been an issue relative to parking from the neighborhood generated from this campus.”

“It got exacerbated last year when our parking garage was closed and we had to shift very quickly to the utilization of stackers,” he said.

Gianelli said that he has been doing a series of things to try to “reduce the impact on the community,” including the creation of surface parking areas for patients and employees, and closing a building and moving personnel to the A. Holly Patterson Campus. He added that the downsizing of staff also had an effect on parking.

The final implementation, which will be enacted by the end of the month, includes “gates and signage to specifically designate and protect areas” for employee parking. “That is important so that every employee has a spot,” said Gianelli, adding that, at that point, there will be no excuse for employees to park in the community.

He said that they will continue to speak to employees when they receive complaints from the community. “We will double down and really reinforce that once these lots are specifically designated and they are gated specifically for employees,” he added.

In regard to patrons parking on the side streets, Gianelli said “the only answer is that they don’t want to pay because the reality is that there are spots in the lot, it's not that complicated to get in or out, and it is closer.”

Gianelli also discussed the possible expansion of the hospital and how it would affect parking. He emphasized that it would be a “shifting more than it is an expansion,” and that if new buildings were built they would have to include a parking solution.

“We drive by, we see the spots – you have spots on your campus. You have done a lot. It’s just that they don’t want to park on the campus. It is as simple as that,” said Yvonne Amato, who resides on First Street. She added that dozens of cars park in the neighborhood everyday.

According to representatives from the Nassau County Police Department, the Third Precinct – which covers the area north of Hempstead Turnpike -- has issued 350 tickets in the last six months and the First Precinct has issued 488 tickets between January and April. The First Precinct represents the area south of Hempstead Turnpike.

“We have to have residential signage because you cannot control [the] employees and visitors from parking on the street,” Amato said.

Amato collected 71 signatures from residents in the neighborhood south of Hempstead Turnpike in support of resident parking permits. The petition was submitted to Senator Kemp Hannon’s office four weeks ago, according to Amato.

Charles Kovit, Deputy Attorney at the Town of Hempstead, explained during the meeting that there would need to be state legislation to take action to issue residential permits. This would be in the form of an amendment to the state vehicle and traffic law or as a special act of the legislature “zeroing in on this area saying that these streets should be limited to East Meadow residents,” he added.

What do you think of the current parking conditions surrounding NUMC? Tell us in the comments.