Unfortunately, banning parking to create more travel lanes will over time relegate Hylan Boulevard to the role of "traffic sewer" and begin to kill off pedestrian activity and other non-motoring uses of the street. One merchant contacted by the Advance said his business is down 20% since the parking ban started, and others are complaining.

The move will also encourage more driving during the rush hour. While congestion relief may last for a time, what will the city do once the new rush hour lane fills up and traffic bogs down again (and Hylan has become a much nastier place for pedestrians and businesses in the meantime) ? And in the short term, since most motorists on Staten Island are headed for one of a handful of major arteries, such an approach may simply squeeze the bottleneck to a new spot.

A longer view by the City DOT would encourage bus travel on Staten Island by figuring out how to move buses more rapidly on arterial streets, while taking care to preserve the streets' community character. Hylan Boulevard carries four local and nine express bus lines, with up to 70 buses per hour using the street. For now, NYC DOT is considering parking bans for Victory Boulevard, Clove Road, Forest Avenue and Richmond Terrace. Each of these streets carries between four and ten bus lines.