Troy neighbors say accessible parking scarce near ‘Gilded Age’ filming

Mark Twain called the late 19th century the Gilded Age. By this, he meant the period was glittering on the surface but not so glamorous underneath.

As the hit HBO series films season two, the Capital Region has been excited about Hollywood in our backyard.

However, viewers with concerns about accessible parking being taken up by the television crew reached out to 13 Investigates.

“After yesterday, I felt compelled to have to reach out because this isn’t right for anybody,” said Ashly Young, a Troy resident.

Young calls downtown Troy home. For the last several days, she’s documented with timestamped photos as the Gilded Age film crew blocked the three accessible parking spots on a portion of Third Street. One spot was blocked for hours.

“My own family who frequents that CVS to pick up their medicine. They got yelled at themselves earlier this week, just trying to run into CVS for 10 minutes to get their medicine,” Young said.

The accessible parking is steps from the Independent Living Center, serving people with disabilities.

“There’s a very limited number of spaces, and they need to be made available,” said Denise Figueroa, Executive Director of the Independent Living Center.

NewsChannel 13 saw cones and a City of Troy sign blocking one accessible spot all day Tuesday—while production trucks pulled in and out of the other two spots sporadically.

NewsChannel 13 reached out to the city’s spokesperson, who says the city set aside more parking elsewhere once it caught wind of the problem.

“Parking Enforcement designated additional no-parking zones further south on Third Street for use by production vehicles, and continue to address additional issues,” the city said in a statement.

Figueroa says the city reached out to her to ask if there was an issue. She said there was, but little has changed.

“We were assured that they would be asked to move down the street, and not block the accessible parking spaces, and that seemed to work a few times, but it certainly hasn’t been the norm. It’s important to have all these activities going on in Troy, it’s what makes it a vibrant community, but we also have to remember that the citizens of Troy need to be able to access the community while all these great things are going on,” said Figueroa.

The city spokesperson said they were not available for an interview Tuesday. The city asked for patience during a busy time in downtown Troy, and said the television crew has been responsive when the city has asked them to move.