Residents in Chicago’s Near West Side neighborhood said they thought they were prepared for next week’s Democratic National Convention, which will largely be held at the nearby United Center, until a notice Monday morning changed that feeling.
“No Parking” signs lined the streets near the McCrory Senior Apartments near the intersection of North Paulina Street and West Washington Boulevard.
“We’ve been to community meetings with the Secret Service and FBI, we’ve had people walking up and down the neighborhood telling us exactly what’s going on,” resident Marybeth Hughes said. “Until we woke up Monday morning and every single space in the neighborhood is ‘no parking.’”
She said it gave them 36 hours to find a place to move their cars for the next 10 days. The parking restrictions begin at 8 a.m. August 14th and last until 8 p.m. on August 25.
“You can’t park anywhere, anywhere,” Karin Dawkins, a property manager at the complex said. “People can’t walk, we have disabled people, we have people who have nurses doctors and therapists and counselors that come every day.”
Ald. Walter Burnett of Chicago’s 27th Ward echoed those concerns, and said it came as a surprise despite several meetings with DNC Security and Secret Service officials.
“We’ve been meeting… Then all of the sudden, bam! Out of nowhere we get signs that say we can’t park for 10 days,” Burnett said.
The areas with parking restrictions are outside of the security perimeter zones, adding extra confusion for residents scrambling to make arrangements.
“It’s just really frustrating, we’ve been doing everything we’ve been asked to do and we’ve tried so hard to follow the rules and listen to everything everyone says, and it’s just a surprise and shocking,” Hughes said.
On Tuesday, the Secret Service held its final security briefing ahead of the DNC.
“We know that there will be impacts on the community, especially when it comes to traffic and parking,” said Derek Mayer, Secret Service Deputy Special Agent in Charge. “But the Secret Service and its partners have done our best to minimize those disruptions by working with community members.”
The Chicago Department of Transportation provided a similar statement to NBC Chicago, stating “due to security and logistical needs, some parking spaces on streets outside the security perimeter will be affected. The City and the Secret Service have worked to limit these restrictions and will provide more information tomorrow and throughout the week.”
Ald. Burnett said they were unaware parking restrictions would occur outside of the designated security perimeter until the signs went up.
“We’ve never been interrupted like this,” he said. “We’re hoping they will respect the community… I got handicapped people, folks with children, this is a very big inconvenience so I’m hoping we can work something out.”
He said he’s working with DNC Security to see if some of the parking restrictions can be scaled back.
As of 9 p.m. Tuesday, the signs were still up near the McCrory Senior Apartments.