Gothamist: Where The Box Blockers Roam

Becca

Mon, 10 Jul 2006 10:59:17 -0500

I nominate Hudson St near the Holland Tunnel for the Block the Box award. Same issue as Margaret (last comment) - drive straight down Franklin (heading East) and stop at Hudson. Watch all the yellow cabs, black cars, and jerks sit in the intersection. Stare at empty Franklin St on the other side for 3 or 4 light cycles.......

anonymous

Mon, 10 Jul 2006 10:23:18 -0500

FYI get ur own brooklyn: The Manhattan BP is Scott Stringer. Howard Stringer is a big TV exec now with Sony, formerly with CBS.

REALITY CHECK

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 23:51:45 -0500

I always thought "Don't Block the Box" had sexual undertones.

g

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 18:32:11 -0500

yet the cops ticket cyclists...

Patrick

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 17:51:47 -0500

Why do we have to keep looking for more ways to fine people? I get fined enough with the BS parking tickets. How about letting cops solve crimes instead of collecting bills? The city doesn't get that money anyway, the state does.

get ur own brooklyn

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 17:14:54 -0500

It's manhattan because Howard Stringer is BP of Manhattan, get marty to do a study if you want brooklyn included. but you're right, downtown brooklyn can be just as bad. I would be scared to walk on any streets that access a tunnel or bridge, just too many cars and they turn without notice. and the street is much wider, taking longer to cross.

interlard

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 16:01:32 -0500

I've been talking about cameras to catch these douchebags for years. But yes, it just makes too much sense and would pay for itself in a day. Our government & police just aren't that smart. As a pedestrian, I like to enforce my own fines. When cars block the crossing I make sure my heavy luggage bashes their precious pieces of junk. Don't like it? Well, stop blocking.

mothra

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 15:52:47 -0500

xq, of course they omitted brooklyn. it's a manhattan only study.

xq

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 15:44:47 -0500

Is Delancey and Essex really worse than Delancey/Kenmare and Bowery? Is that possible? Also i am betting the study suffers from the omission of places in brooklyn like the Flatbush/Atlantic/4th ave intersection or Tillary street and Flatbush avenue.

Uhuh.

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 15:04:09 -0500

I have a friend who was blocking the box. He was given a ticket for going through a red light instead. I wonder if that's the reason why there aren't many blocking tickets.

Brightliner

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 14:58:09 -0500

Where've you been, Garth? I've been saying this for years. As for the whole "unavoidable" excuse, that's bunk. There's no such thing as unavoidable. Common sense says if you can't be absolutely sure you get out of the box when the light changes, you shouldn't move into it in the first place. Just look at the stopped traffic past the box. Is there room or isn't there? It's not rocket science. Even state law says this, not that most drivers can remember any laws five minutes after they get their drivers' licences. The only time you can proceed into an intersection and stop is if you're waiting to make a left turn. And if any asshole honks at you from behind for not driving into the intersection, that's too bad for them.

bklynd

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 14:56:54 -0500

Actually, I think cop enforcement would be better than automated tickets. It *is* a judgement call as to whether the driver could have reasonably expected to clear the box or not. And a camera shot doesn't show whether traffic cleared 10 seconds later or caused minutes of gridlock. People are actually sort of polite if you wait at the stop line for the box to clear. They only honk or cut around you, like, 10% of the time.

JESUS CHRIST

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 14:39:49 -0500

that whole picture taking thing makes too much sense! That's why it will never happen.

k

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 14:25:19 -0500

but that would require the police to do their job.

Margaret

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 14:05:32 -0500

Coming home from my job in East New York everyday, I was constantly stuck at an intersection where people "blocked the box". I would be forced to just sit through light cycle after light cycle staring at an empty road in front of me, impeded by just a few douchebag drivers. (And I do believe in this situation the term 'douchebag' is entirely appropriate.) I actually started to develop homicidal tendencies. I would imagine just plowing through those cars...once I was just about to get out and physically stop the cars from jumping into the intersection...then I remembered I was in East New York. Ok, to sum up, this kind of bad driving behavior can push normally peaceful elementary school teachers to extreme acts of violence. Consider yourself warned.