Riding a bike in Central Park the other day I was stopped by a police officer who told me I was not allowed to ride on the grass. When I first came to live in New York, mountain biking was the rage and the hills and boulders of Central Park were covered with this new breed of bike and biker. Apparently, the rule now prohibits riding a bike anywhere in the park but on the roadways and only in the direction of traffic. But I see bicyclists cutting across the grass, using the walkways, traveling in the opposite direction on the roads every time I am in the park. According to these new rules, in order to cross the park, a bicyclist has to pedal from say 96 Street down to 59th and back up. Can that kind of law hold up? This goes to the heart of the convenience of a bike. Such rules are difficult, if not impossible, to enforce but, when they are broken, can be repaired with a fine.
Anyone out there ever cross against the light, J-Walk or see a pedestrian crossing in the middle of a street, probably on a cell phone? When you did, did you happen to notice any drivers on their phones?
Anyone (except those of us using the parallelspaces.com parking map) ever park illegally? Did you dunk the ball, do an end zone dance, call a friend to share your good mood when you got away with it? FedEx or UPS cannot even function without illegally parking and nobody really thinks they are going to take their business out of town. No, they agree to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in parking fines. They used to negotiate a rate with the city, probably still do. What is the parking fine reduction program by the DOT but a 25% OFF sale? All of which makes me ask, is it really illegal to park where parking is not allowed, or just very expensive?
Every week I see people cutting in movie lines or mechanics running up bills; businesses hiding their occasional incompetence (you still pay); drivers turning without blinkers, cutting people and cars off; traffic and parking laws broken; bootleg movies, handbags, and watches for sale; rotten fruit sold underneath good fruit; unsanitary deli kitchens; new bike lanes abused by cars and pedestrians or cars and pedestrians abused by unruly bicyclists; buildings that do not recycle; oil and toxic waste not properly disposed of (sometimes by millionaires); cars idling more than 3 minutes; litter thrown on the sidewalk; [fill in your examples here] and a city that looks the other way, usually for a fee. While we’re at it, who has forgotten the famous tales of the MTA lying about costs to get higher increases or the NYPD suppressing crime statistics, or suffered at the climactic scene the failed service of cable, cell phone or internet providers or experienced some other kind of professional (contractual) promise broken?
Remember the “broken window theory?” That was the nickname of a sociologist’s theory that a graffiti marred, homeless occupied, sidewalk littered neighborhood with abandoned buildings or “broken windows,” gave a “no one gives a shit” (my words) appearance to a neighborhood and actually promoted an atmosphere of lawlessness, actually increased crime. This was the cornerstone of Mayor Giuliani’s famous “Quality of Life” crimes program and which of our neighbors would not agree that the rebuilding, repairing of streets, parks and subways and the enforcement of these social crimes worked to reduce crime?
Yet we have a host of laws that cannot be, don’t even seem intended to be, enforced, and are often for sale. The fact is generally good citizens of New York break laws every day or see them broken. Good thing for us there isn’t a “broken laws” theory.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Pedestrians, Cars, and Bikes, but no Buses! (cont.)
The City Council’s 12/9 meeting on “Oversight - Bicycling in NYC – Opportunities and challenges" is over and we don’t yet get to hear their decision.
“Please note: this meeting's minutes have not been finalized yet. Actions taken on legislation and their results are not available.”
No word on the proposed changes to Alternate Side Parking Rules either. That Introduction was “Laid Over by Committee” on Nov 9.
The Mayor deliberately withholds information (See post ”Tight Lipped City Officials Won’t Say where Parking Spaces Will Be Cut.“ and the City Council procedurally buries it. So once again I am left to decide what is right for this great city and I have to do it without the benefit of all the facts. One fact I know about the addition of bike lanes is they don’t all fit: the cars, the trucks, the buses and bikes; never did, no reason to think they will now. So I have to wonder how far this little social experiment will go.
Does Bloomberg & Company foresee our streets only used by bikes, taxis, fire, police and delivery vehicles? That would hurt his beloved tourism. Just the reduction of parking garages will seriously alter the tourism those garages make possible. In fact, the percentage of our economy due to cars is huge. How much of it are we meant to sacrifice in the name of bike lanes. How much of the buying; selling; repairing; parking; manufacturing; parts; fueling; maintaining of roads, bridges and tunnels; tourism; moving; traffic signals, signage and the other many purchases of traffic planning and control that are just a few of the businesses that depend on automobiles are we to give up? Not to mention the $574 million dollars from tickets last year that I think we can safely assume, this administration has no intention of giving up.
So, I have to assume he doesn’t want all the cars out, just fewer people to drive in the city, but which ones are allowed to stay? Does he just want people who can afford garages to drive in the city? Is it survival of the strongest? Has he fashioned his own traffic Tetris or Hunger Game so that only the most quick handed, cutthroat or persevering will remain? The bike lanes by themselves sound like a great thing, but in the ecosystem of our streets, they are traffic clenching and to call them "traffic calming," Mr, Mayor, does not make the little people feel the pain any less. When you constrict the arteries, blood rushes to your head. Do New Yorkers need more tempers flaring and horns blaring? Does this sound like a lot of questions? Well that might be because our city government is not giving us the answers.
We all know about the lost parking spaces and enforced traffic congestion, but the greatest concern to me so far is that the experimental growth of bicycles comes almost in direct opposition to the availability of transit buses. Our once great New York system of MTA Buses has already taken some hits from this Mayor’s policies. That carbon monoxide street plaza he landfilled in Times Square was at the expense of Bus routes through the heart of our Broadway neighborhood’s glitz and glamor (and theatre owners don’t much like the more difficult access either). And buses have again been cut back heavily this year. Bike lane enforced “traffic calming” only promises to make buses even slower and less popular. So let’s see, the buses will be slower. The trains are already overcrowded. How many people can actually ride a bike to work? How many can and show up looking professional? Does the A/C on those things even work? How many can ride a bus and look great doing it?
The problem with this process is there is no process as far as ordinary citizens go. We don’t see any scale model or drawings of New York in 2020. Is there any kind of grand plan (a little more far reaching than a map of proposed bike routes) or is it play as you go? Where does it end? How does it work practically? Show us the money. What is it supposed to look like? Amsterdam? Bermuda? Will the next Mayor just scrap it all? It might help us decide if this is just another New York ego giving us a headache or much needed growing pains. When do we get to see and hear your final objective, read the minutes of your meeting, Mr. Mayor?
Have you thought it all through, Mr. Mayor, Really?
“Please note: this meeting's minutes have not been finalized yet. Actions taken on legislation and their results are not available.”
No word on the proposed changes to Alternate Side Parking Rules either. That Introduction was “Laid Over by Committee” on Nov 9.
The Mayor deliberately withholds information (See post ”Tight Lipped City Officials Won’t Say where Parking Spaces Will Be Cut.“ and the City Council procedurally buries it. So once again I am left to decide what is right for this great city and I have to do it without the benefit of all the facts. One fact I know about the addition of bike lanes is they don’t all fit: the cars, the trucks, the buses and bikes; never did, no reason to think they will now. So I have to wonder how far this little social experiment will go.
Does Bloomberg & Company foresee our streets only used by bikes, taxis, fire, police and delivery vehicles? That would hurt his beloved tourism. Just the reduction of parking garages will seriously alter the tourism those garages make possible. In fact, the percentage of our economy due to cars is huge. How much of it are we meant to sacrifice in the name of bike lanes. How much of the buying; selling; repairing; parking; manufacturing; parts; fueling; maintaining of roads, bridges and tunnels; tourism; moving; traffic signals, signage and the other many purchases of traffic planning and control that are just a few of the businesses that depend on automobiles are we to give up? Not to mention the $574 million dollars from tickets last year that I think we can safely assume, this administration has no intention of giving up.
So, I have to assume he doesn’t want all the cars out, just fewer people to drive in the city, but which ones are allowed to stay? Does he just want people who can afford garages to drive in the city? Is it survival of the strongest? Has he fashioned his own traffic Tetris or Hunger Game so that only the most quick handed, cutthroat or persevering will remain? The bike lanes by themselves sound like a great thing, but in the ecosystem of our streets, they are traffic clenching and to call them "traffic calming," Mr, Mayor, does not make the little people feel the pain any less. When you constrict the arteries, blood rushes to your head. Do New Yorkers need more tempers flaring and horns blaring? Does this sound like a lot of questions? Well that might be because our city government is not giving us the answers.
We all know about the lost parking spaces and enforced traffic congestion, but the greatest concern to me so far is that the experimental growth of bicycles comes almost in direct opposition to the availability of transit buses. Our once great New York system of MTA Buses has already taken some hits from this Mayor’s policies. That carbon monoxide street plaza he landfilled in Times Square was at the expense of Bus routes through the heart of our Broadway neighborhood’s glitz and glamor (and theatre owners don’t much like the more difficult access either). And buses have again been cut back heavily this year. Bike lane enforced “traffic calming” only promises to make buses even slower and less popular. So let’s see, the buses will be slower. The trains are already overcrowded. How many people can actually ride a bike to work? How many can and show up looking professional? Does the A/C on those things even work? How many can ride a bus and look great doing it?
The problem with this process is there is no process as far as ordinary citizens go. We don’t see any scale model or drawings of New York in 2020. Is there any kind of grand plan (a little more far reaching than a map of proposed bike routes) or is it play as you go? Where does it end? How does it work practically? Show us the money. What is it supposed to look like? Amsterdam? Bermuda? Will the next Mayor just scrap it all? It might help us decide if this is just another New York ego giving us a headache or much needed growing pains. When do we get to see and hear your final objective, read the minutes of your meeting, Mr. Mayor?
Have you thought it all through, Mr. Mayor, Really?
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Pedestrians, Cars, and Bikes, Oh My!
The Bloomberg initiative of shoehorning bike lanes into city avenues is becoming a difficult reality and battle lines over our shrinking share of prized NYC pavement are being drawn. So far, they are an incomplete solution for bicyclists, deprive drivers of parking spaces, hurt small businesses and bog down our already congested automobile traffic. Oh, but that is one of the points. One of the least funny quotes I have heard out of the Dept. of Transportation recently is in the context of the new bike lanes controversy, the benefits, and the backlash. The benefits would seem to be a kinder, gentler city life with couples casually strolling alongside bicyclists breezily flowing by and the occasional B-R-R-R-I-N-G! B-R-R-R-I-N-G! to warn of their passing.
I am sure Bermuda is very charming at this time of year, but we are talking about New York where competition for parking is fierce, unemployment is high, money is tight, small business needs their delivery trucks close and their customers’ parking spaces closer, bicyclists still have a host of dangers to contend with, harried pedestrians now have an extra obstacle to overlook, and traffic is worse than ever by design. That’s right the DOT has openly admitted that they are trying to forcefully constrict traffic patterns with these new bike lanes in a little exercise they have adorably labeled “traffic calming” (New York Times Article). No matter what you may think about the forced importance of bicycles as a principle form of transportation, deliberately causing traffic snarls in the name of “traffic calming” sounds more like a comedy sketch than public policy which begs us all to ask the obvious question, REALLY, Mr. Mayor?
REALLY? Does anyone in this administration actually drive their own car in this city or even drive their own car? Do they live in the neighborhoods where their theoretical “traffic calming” is being so rudely felt. Have they heard the yells, the car doors slamming? Have they noticed the very bikes they are promoting weaving around the blocked traffic like a pinball bounced by each startled pedestrian or car bumper scraped? REALLY? Have they ever tried to parallel park a car in a “Floating Parking Lane” that pushes them out into the high speed rapids of a major tributary of city traffic. Even my 9th grade daughter knows that the entire Greek Tragedy of Oedipus got started as a road rage because Oedipus’ carriage could not get past his father’s (unknown to him) carriage. He killed his father on the spot and married his mother and the rest is high school English. Of course, education isn’t a high priority for the DOT or for our always business Mayor, it seems.
REALLY, Ms Sadik-Khan? Have you or policymakers of your Dept. of Transportation ever been near a tunnel or bridge (or a dozen other “calmed” traffic byways) at rush hour. The horn blowing on a traffic calmed rush hour evening is like a daily New Years Eve celebration gone bad. Stuck in a perpetual crawl, you would like to think that the drivers would accept their fate (it was their choice after all) and lay off their multi-decibel alarms, but, in case members of this administration haven’t noticed, drivers in this city don’t accept “No” as an answer. Hey, Americans don’t like it much anywhere. So they let their determined ways temporarily destroy the peace of entire neighborhoods. They vote with louder and competing distress signals, rowdy protests internationally manufactured by Toyota, Audi and Ford. Whether it’s the self proclaimed “emergency,” the bus lane cheat, or the claustrophobic panic, or just the need to vent, traffic constriction does not make for quiet, “calm” drivers. "Traffic Calming"… REALLY?
Such tea room patter amongst people who have a huge impact on our daily lives would be funny if it wasn’t so callous and makes me wonder what else they don’t know about their constituents and fellow citizens. The backlash is being felt. Some communities have organized and bike lanes have been removed in Staten Island and Williamsburg and others are being reviewed. This Thursday the City Council will hold a hearing on bicycling to somehow balance the shrinking space for bicyclists and other road users. If you want your opinion heard on any of these matters, the Find Your Council Member Page is a good place to express it.
[To be continued]
I am sure Bermuda is very charming at this time of year, but we are talking about New York where competition for parking is fierce, unemployment is high, money is tight, small business needs their delivery trucks close and their customers’ parking spaces closer, bicyclists still have a host of dangers to contend with, harried pedestrians now have an extra obstacle to overlook, and traffic is worse than ever by design. That’s right the DOT has openly admitted that they are trying to forcefully constrict traffic patterns with these new bike lanes in a little exercise they have adorably labeled “traffic calming” (New York Times Article). No matter what you may think about the forced importance of bicycles as a principle form of transportation, deliberately causing traffic snarls in the name of “traffic calming” sounds more like a comedy sketch than public policy which begs us all to ask the obvious question, REALLY, Mr. Mayor?
REALLY? Does anyone in this administration actually drive their own car in this city or even drive their own car? Do they live in the neighborhoods where their theoretical “traffic calming” is being so rudely felt. Have they heard the yells, the car doors slamming? Have they noticed the very bikes they are promoting weaving around the blocked traffic like a pinball bounced by each startled pedestrian or car bumper scraped? REALLY? Have they ever tried to parallel park a car in a “Floating Parking Lane” that pushes them out into the high speed rapids of a major tributary of city traffic. Even my 9th grade daughter knows that the entire Greek Tragedy of Oedipus got started as a road rage because Oedipus’ carriage could not get past his father’s (unknown to him) carriage. He killed his father on the spot and married his mother and the rest is high school English. Of course, education isn’t a high priority for the DOT or for our always business Mayor, it seems.
REALLY, Ms Sadik-Khan? Have you or policymakers of your Dept. of Transportation ever been near a tunnel or bridge (or a dozen other “calmed” traffic byways) at rush hour. The horn blowing on a traffic calmed rush hour evening is like a daily New Years Eve celebration gone bad. Stuck in a perpetual crawl, you would like to think that the drivers would accept their fate (it was their choice after all) and lay off their multi-decibel alarms, but, in case members of this administration haven’t noticed, drivers in this city don’t accept “No” as an answer. Hey, Americans don’t like it much anywhere. So they let their determined ways temporarily destroy the peace of entire neighborhoods. They vote with louder and competing distress signals, rowdy protests internationally manufactured by Toyota, Audi and Ford. Whether it’s the self proclaimed “emergency,” the bus lane cheat, or the claustrophobic panic, or just the need to vent, traffic constriction does not make for quiet, “calm” drivers. "Traffic Calming"… REALLY?
Such tea room patter amongst people who have a huge impact on our daily lives would be funny if it wasn’t so callous and makes me wonder what else they don’t know about their constituents and fellow citizens. The backlash is being felt. Some communities have organized and bike lanes have been removed in Staten Island and Williamsburg and others are being reviewed. This Thursday the City Council will hold a hearing on bicycling to somehow balance the shrinking space for bicyclists and other road users. If you want your opinion heard on any of these matters, the Find Your Council Member Page is a good place to express it.
[To be continued]
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Give Thanks for Thursdays or 5-3-5-4
Everyone knows Thursdays are lucky days, but do you know why? Is it because the weekend is almost here? Is it because it was named after the planet Jupiter, the King of the Gods? Even more impressive than these, it’s because Thursdays that are lone Alternate Side Parking Suspended Days have the longest stretch of days possible without the required moving of your car. I know those of you who have to take your car out every day wince when you hear from us who only take the car out for recreation or for transporting in-laws out of town, but we also pay New York City’s higher registration fees, taxes, inspection and insurance, not to mention suffer the whims of the DOT, the PVB, up the WXYZ. So we have to celebrate when Monday we can move the car to the Tue/Fri side and not think about moving it again until next Mon.
Now some may say “OK, sounds lucky,” but what is the 5-3-5-4 in the title? The combination to your gym locker that you keep forgetting, the latest college football genius defense on show this Thanksgiving weekend, or the rest of that girl’s telephone number that rubbed off? None of these.
It is the results of the parallelspaces.com very sophisticated, very state of the art Best Alternate Side Suspended Days Test Formula Numbers Array! Hey, we take parking pretty seriously. Of course, it’s a little too complicated for those of you without an engineering degree, but I can explain it to you laymen (and laywomen) something like this.
Start with the Mon, Tue, Thur., or Fri (Typical Alternate Side Days) just previous to the single suspended day you want to test. Then count the days until your car will no longer be legally parked. For example, this Thursday Street Sweeping is suspended for Thanksgiving. So once you move the car to the Tue side, you don’t have to move it for Wed (1), Thur (2), Fri (3), Sat (4) and Sun (5). That rates a Thur Only Suspended Day as a 5. Tue Only Suspended Days are a 3 and Fridays a 4. While it’s true Mondays are also a 5, the tiebreaker is long weekends almost always involve taking the car somewhere. Yes, just about all of us will take the car somewhere for Thanksgiving, but think last Veterans Day (11/11) and you get my point.
So Thursdays are officially crowned King of the Alternate Side Suspended Days and we thank the King of the Gods for it!
But that’s for single days. What about combinations?
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Alternate Side Parking Rules Transcend Religion. Or November 16 - 18 Alternate Side Suspended for Idul-Adha
I often joke that Alternate Side Parking suspensions promote a heartfelt appreciation for the city’s diverse religions, but as we approach the Muslim Holiday of Idul-Adha and enjoy the miracle of 3 days (Tue-Thur, 11/16 – 11/18) of not having to move our cars back and forth, how many of us actually know what this holiday commemorates? Maybe this is the silver lining of Alternate Side Parking Rules. In a time when religion is so divisive, Alt Side Rules can be the inspiration of not just appreciation, but of a sincere belief in the importance of other religions or at least religious observance that rises to the threshold of street sweeping suspension.
If you are skeptical, have you ever wondered, asked out loud, Googled what Idul-Fitr or Diwali (last Fri), or any holiday that spared you from going out into the rainy night (when no one seems to vacate their parking spaces), celebrates? Would you have bothered to find out what these three holy days mean otherwise?
Turns out Idul-Adha is the commemoration of the Old Testament story of Abraham. Abraham, because of his unconditional faith, sacrifices his own son at God’s request, but at the last minute is allowed to sacrifice a ram in his son’s place. And if this display of God’s mercy (except for the ram) doesn’t stop traffic for you, this story is actually shared by three of the world’s most contrary religions. The Jews, Christians and Muslims all celebrate the tale of Abraham. Does the fact that this week is the Muslim observance of the Abraham story make us drivers feel any less blessed?
Could it be that Alt Side is changing the way we see each other the only way life really can, with practical everyday experience, one suspended Alt Side Day at a time?
If you are skeptical, have you ever wondered, asked out loud, Googled what Idul-Fitr or Diwali (last Fri), or any holiday that spared you from going out into the rainy night (when no one seems to vacate their parking spaces), celebrates? Would you have bothered to find out what these three holy days mean otherwise?
Turns out Idul-Adha is the commemoration of the Old Testament story of Abraham. Abraham, because of his unconditional faith, sacrifices his own son at God’s request, but at the last minute is allowed to sacrifice a ram in his son’s place. And if this display of God’s mercy (except for the ram) doesn’t stop traffic for you, this story is actually shared by three of the world’s most contrary religions. The Jews, Christians and Muslims all celebrate the tale of Abraham. Does the fact that this week is the Muslim observance of the Abraham story make us drivers feel any less blessed?
Could it be that Alt Side is changing the way we see each other the only way life really can, with practical everyday experience, one suspended Alt Side Day at a time?
Sunday, November 7, 2010
City Council Considers Dramatic Changes in Alternate Side Parking Rules
This Tuesday (11/9) the City Council has three items on their agenda that could alter life with Alternate Side of the Street Parking as we know it. And if any of these proposed changes appeal to or concern you, you should write the city council, call your local representatives, spread the word, or somehow make your support (objections?) heard. If interested, the Find Your Council Member Page gives contact information for the Council Member of your district, and there is always the Contact the Mayor link on the right of this Blog.
(1) Int 0113-2010 A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to limiting the days that alternate side of the street parking is in effect in residentially zoned districts.
(2) Int 0287-2010 A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York in relation to reducing department of sanitation street cleaning days.
(3) Int 0375-2010 A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to allowing vehicles to park on the restricted side of a street which is subject to alternate side parking rules without being ticketed if the owner is in the vehicle and able to move it or if the street has already been cleaned.
Those of you who have heard my whines and complaints about Alternate Side Parking insanity may be surprised to know that I don’t favor the first two items above. Of course, (1) Limiting Alt Side in residential neighborhoods and/or (2) Limiting Alt Side everywhere sound like manna from Heaven, but lest we forget, Street Cleaning keeps our streets clean and, let’s face it, litter on our streets is the last major unsolved Quality of Life crime there is in this city. It’s the one social crime left that keeps New York from looking practically perfect. While many of us have successfully focussed past the amount of debris on our sidewalks and streets as we rush to wherever it is we have to be, anyone with small children or a dog experiences up close and personal our blossoming, low-lying, street waste.
And, keep in mind, rainwater flows from rooftops, sidewalks and streets to storm drains, and to our creeks, canals, and rivers. Street sweeping captures litter, sediment, and fallen leaves before they enter the storm drains protecting our waterways from these pollutants.
I also have little faith that, even if a reduction is put into effect, it would last for very long. As a great scientist somewhere told us, the DOT abhors a vacuum. Once Alt Side is discontinued on certain days, is it reasonable to think parking regulations in residential neighborhoods on these days will just stay vanished or will something else, something revenue producing, take its place. Muni Meters are a pretty easy install and the sign posts are already there.
Lastly, and I have mentioned this before in the Post "Parking Trends or Why We Need Alternate Side Parking," I believe, and I have very little evidence to prove it, that if Alt Side Rules are lessened, parking will become more difficult. Reasons for moving will be fewer and the open spaces it created will be harder to find. People will squat. Local residents may even organize the giving and taking of spaces that can be held for days at a time. An easing of Alternate Side Rules may even encourage more people to own cars.
The third (Int 0375-2010) seems like a no brainer, but, in this city, will still probably need your full support to get passed. As long as a driver is in the car and ready to move, of course, he or she should not be ticketed! The sign says No Parking NOT No Standing or No Stopping. The purpose of these laws is to enable street sweeping. Let’s revert to that more civilized way of life. It will be difficult to dispute a ticket based on the “already swept” defense, so get your cameras and cell phones ready. Still, just having this rule in the law will promote the writing of tickets for the purpose intended and should help make more reasonable ticket writing the norm. It may happen that a string of automobiles will trail and scatter behind a street sweeper like it is the Pied Piper or Johnny Appleseed of street parking but, of course, it may be.
(1) Int 0113-2010 A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to limiting the days that alternate side of the street parking is in effect in residentially zoned districts.
(2) Int 0287-2010 A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York in relation to reducing department of sanitation street cleaning days.
(3) Int 0375-2010 A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to allowing vehicles to park on the restricted side of a street which is subject to alternate side parking rules without being ticketed if the owner is in the vehicle and able to move it or if the street has already been cleaned.
Those of you who have heard my whines and complaints about Alternate Side Parking insanity may be surprised to know that I don’t favor the first two items above. Of course, (1) Limiting Alt Side in residential neighborhoods and/or (2) Limiting Alt Side everywhere sound like manna from Heaven, but lest we forget, Street Cleaning keeps our streets clean and, let’s face it, litter on our streets is the last major unsolved Quality of Life crime there is in this city. It’s the one social crime left that keeps New York from looking practically perfect. While many of us have successfully focussed past the amount of debris on our sidewalks and streets as we rush to wherever it is we have to be, anyone with small children or a dog experiences up close and personal our blossoming, low-lying, street waste.
And, keep in mind, rainwater flows from rooftops, sidewalks and streets to storm drains, and to our creeks, canals, and rivers. Street sweeping captures litter, sediment, and fallen leaves before they enter the storm drains protecting our waterways from these pollutants.
I also have little faith that, even if a reduction is put into effect, it would last for very long. As a great scientist somewhere told us, the DOT abhors a vacuum. Once Alt Side is discontinued on certain days, is it reasonable to think parking regulations in residential neighborhoods on these days will just stay vanished or will something else, something revenue producing, take its place. Muni Meters are a pretty easy install and the sign posts are already there.
Lastly, and I have mentioned this before in the Post "Parking Trends or Why We Need Alternate Side Parking," I believe, and I have very little evidence to prove it, that if Alt Side Rules are lessened, parking will become more difficult. Reasons for moving will be fewer and the open spaces it created will be harder to find. People will squat. Local residents may even organize the giving and taking of spaces that can be held for days at a time. An easing of Alternate Side Rules may even encourage more people to own cars.
The third (Int 0375-2010) seems like a no brainer, but, in this city, will still probably need your full support to get passed. As long as a driver is in the car and ready to move, of course, he or she should not be ticketed! The sign says No Parking NOT No Standing or No Stopping. The purpose of these laws is to enable street sweeping. Let’s revert to that more civilized way of life. It will be difficult to dispute a ticket based on the “already swept” defense, so get your cameras and cell phones ready. Still, just having this rule in the law will promote the writing of tickets for the purpose intended and should help make more reasonable ticket writing the norm. It may happen that a string of automobiles will trail and scatter behind a street sweeper like it is the Pied Piper or Johnny Appleseed of street parking but, of course, it may be.
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