Entire Gerard Street Lot Will Open For Fall Festival
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As of Friday, Oct. 10, the portion of the Gerard Street lot previously closed for construction is open for public parking. (Long Islander News photos/Arielle Dollinger)
The estimated 150 parking spaces closed for a months-long overhaul of Huntington village’s Gerard Street lot are officially ready for use.
Supervisor Frank Petrone announced today that the first phase of the reconstruction project “is essentially complete,” according to a press release, and that the spaces would be open for public use during this weekend’s Long Island Fall Festival at Heckscher Park. For the weekend, until phase two begins on Monday, the entire lot is open for parking.
“With the major work complete, and with the remaining work not affecting safety, it makes sense to reopen this portion of the lot, freeing up 146 parking spaces on a weekend when so much is going on in Huntington village,” Petrone said.
Phase one of the two-phase reconstruction project – which included resurfacing, installing a bioswale drainage system and adding spaces – closed approximately two-thirds of the 235-space parking lot to the public beginning in July.
The remaining 75-or-so spaces, which remained open throughout phase one, will close when the second phase of the project begins on Monday, according to town spokesman A.J. Carter. The fenced-in enclosure created during phase one of construction – the majority of which has already been removed to allow for public entrance to the lot this weekend – will shrink until it disappears, Carter said.
Merchants with Gerard Street businesses have previously told Long Islander News of their discontentment with the construction, which temporarily took parking away from both their employees and clientele. Now that the lot is open again, Title Boxing Manager Steve Stone, who has been outspoken throughout construction, was the first to park his car in the newly-resurfaced lot.
“I feel like I just got bailed out of jail,” Stone said of the reopening of the parking spaces. “It means, quite frankly, back to business. Back to business as usual.”
Meanwhile, the New Street valet parking pilot program, which parks cars on Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. in the New Street lot, is soon to end. Service will be available until Oct. 31.
