Street parking near Queens Criminal Court to close as jail construction advances
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The areas of 132nd Street and 126rd Street where street parking will be closed down during construction of Queens’ borough-based jail. Eagle file photo by Noah Powelson
By Noah Powelson
After a month-long delay, street parking around Queens Criminal Court is scheduled to officially close down Monday as construction of the future borough-based jail in the court’s backyard progresses.
The New York City Department of Design and Construction issued new street parking closures for 132nd Street on Monday, turning the street into a one-way road that exits onto Union Turnpike. The move will also eliminate access to dozens of parking spots regularly used by the Queens Criminal Courthouse’s staff and visitors.
Additional closures are scheduled for 126th Street on Monday, July 6.
Between the two closures, roughly 100 parking spots regularly used by court staff will be fenced off.
The free public street parking will be temporarily lost while the closures are in place, but spots reserved for judges, district attorney staff or staff members for the Departments of Transportation and Citywide Administrative Services are also within the closure perimeter.
According to the public notice from DDC, many of the reserved spots will be diverted to stretches of street parking on Queens Boulevard that border the Maple Grove Cemetery. The stretch of road is currently composed of a mix of no parking, public street parking and metered parking spots.
The DDC said the parking spot eliminations are to accommodate a construction fence and staging area for the Queens borough-based jail, one of four jails set to be built throughout the city as an alternate to Rikers Island. Parking closures were initially planned to go into effect in late May and early June, but were delayed for reasons the DDC did not disclose.
The street redesign has caused mounting frustration for various court staff who work in Queens Criminal Court and who do not have a dedicated parking spot, including court officers and secretaries.
The designated street parking closures on 132nd Street and 126th Street and alternative parking areas assigned during the construction of the Queens’ borough-based jail. Photo from the Department of Design and Construction
While the area around the Queens Criminal Courthouse is a major transit hub with an E/F subway station, a Long Island Rail Road station and several bus lines making regular stops nearby, court staff who live on Long Island told the Eagle driving is the only way they can reliably get to work on time without losing hours to their commute.
But parking around the courthouse has never been easy.
A secretary in Queens Supreme Court, Criminal Term, granted anonymity to speak to the Eagle, said it regularly takes them 45 minutes to find a parking spot before parking closures went into effect.
A DDC spokesperson previously told the Eagle they were in communication with court stakeholders about facilitating alternative parking options.
“DDC, MOCJ, DOC and DOT have coordinated with the impacted agencies and temporary alternative parking space will be provided for the duration of the project construction,” a DDC spokesperson told the Eagle in May. “When the project is completed, 100 underground parking spots will be available for DOC authorized vehicles within the facility.”
“Additionally, as part of the City’s Borough-Based Jails Program, a state-of-the-art garage was built in the area,” the spokesperson added at the time. “The multi-level building includes space for 600 vehicles, 63 bike rack spots, a community area and sustainability features, including electric vehicle chargers and solar panels.”
The DDC did not respond to an Eagle inquiry about the new street closures on Friday.
While there is a municipal parking lot located around the block from the courthouse on 132nd Street, which borders the construction site of Queens’ borough-based jail, staff rarely use it because of its cost. The municipal lot charges $20 for a 10-hour pass and a monthly permit costs $330.
Most weekdays, the available parking sign outside the building regularly shows that there are 300 or 400 empty parking spots available inside.
There are also other private parking garages in the area, which charge similar or higher prices than the municipal lot.
City law requires Rikers Island to be shut down by August 2027, a deadline the city has admitted it will be unable to meet in part because of delays to the construction of the borough-based facilities.
Construction on the $4 billion jail in Queens isn’t expected to be completed until 2031.
