<< Back
Transportation & Environment
730 5th Avenue, Request for a Hotel Loading Zone for the hotel
At the regularly scheduled monthly Community Board Five meeting on Thursday, March 14, 2024, the following resolution passed with a vote of 40 in favor; 0 opposed; 1 abstaining:
WHEREAS, The Applicant, owner of the hotel located at 730 5th Avenue (the “Crown Building”), a 89-room hotel located west of 5th Avenue on the south side of 57th Street, has requested a hotel loading zone on 57th Street to serve their customers; and
WHEREAS, Such loading zones are standard at the main entrance to larger hotels in New York City, and the Department of Transportation (“DOT”) regularly creates such zones in front of hotels larger than 100 rooms; and
WHEREAS, The Department of Transportation requires hotels below 100 rooms in size to come before the Community Board to hear any objections to their loading zone before such a permit is issued; and
WHEREAS, The owner of the hotel has complied with this requirement, and at the Community Board Five Transportation & Environment Committee meeting at which this application was discussed, no opposition to the loading zone was given; and
WHEREAS, The applicant requested a loading zone measuring approximately 25 feet in length, to allow for drop off and pick up or passengers at the main entrance of the hotel; and
WHEREAS, DOT advised that a loading zone would result in less obstruction of traffic, and would likely reduce the potential for double-parked standing vehicles;
WHEREAS, DOT advised further that a loading zone should only be permitted to operate outside of hours in which the southernmost lane on 57th Street is a dedicated bus lane (namely, Monday to Friday, 7 AM - 10 AM and 4 PM - 7 PM) and should not be permitted to interfere with the ordinary operation of the bus lane; and
WHEREAS, Community Board Five believes that a sign indicating DOT’s Hotel Loading Zone regulations in front of the hotel would be more effective than No Standing regulations for mitigating double-parking and would likely assist the hotel in proper management of the loading zone space; and
WHEREAS, DOT will normally permit a hotel loading zone in front of a 100-room hotel; and
WHEREAS, Such loading zones should be approved only on a case-by-case basis, and no precedent with regard to these zones should be presumed in response to this application; therefore be it
RESOLVED, Community Board Five recommends approval of the application by the hotel at 730 5th Avenue for a hotel loading zone, with the following conditions:
- that DOT post a Hotel Loading Zone parking regulations sign in front of 730 5th Avenue as DOT does with 100-room or greater hotels,
- that the hotel agree it will not place any cones, stanchions, or other obstructions in the loading zone at any time, and
- that the zone not apply during dedicated bus lane hours of Monday to Friday, 7 AM to 10 AM and 4 PM to 7 PM.