August 8, 2007
Extra, Extra
- Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: A hazmat situation at 56th Avenue and Peck in Queens, a suspicious package at 110th and 5th Avenue in Manhattan, and lots of storm damage in Brooklyn
- Four NYPD traffic agents faked tickets to look busy; supervisors became suspicious when noticing a large number of tickets to out-of-town cars (city resident-owned cars get barcode tickets, but out-of-town tickers are handwritten).
- Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro had a heart attack after a press conference with Senator Schumer; he had surgery and he's resting comfortably now.
- The Daily News has all 11 pages of Governor Spitzer's speech that include mention of humility and his staff's passion causing the Troopergate mess
- Today is Algonquin Hotel cat Matilda's birthday; we hope you get all the catnip or hairball-reducing treats you wish for.
- Why are people so terrible? Some men were shooting at birds at Dreier-Offerman park.
- New York may face a steak shortage, thanks to rising corn prices and the interest in ethanol.
- Last night was National Night Out, a night to promote crime prevention, but, at some precincts, turned into a night to remember fallen police and officers; Kensington (Brooklyn) just missed being able to get a bike etched!
- Advertising your bar on every single parking meter in the neighborhood might not be the winning way into potential customers' hearts
- And tonight's NBC Nightly News broadcast is on location...in Brooklyn's tornado zone (seriously)
Photograph by ~Raymond on Flickr
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I'm happy to see you wrapped two stories together, the Neaderthal looking guy and the NYPD traffic officers.
NYPD traffic officers decended from the same tree that your valiant individual came from. Isn't it about time to separate the crap individuals that are called traffic officers (most of same probably couldn't spell traffic officer in a bid for the $100 dollar slot on the "Millionaire" show, and in the old days they were called "Meter Maids") from the NYPD?
I'm not saying the NYPD is much better, but at least the two forces should be seperated.
"seperated." you knew there had to be a screw-up in there somewhere. it's a universal law.
"Some men were three men shooting at birds at Dreier-Offerman park."
No further explanation necessary.
Tonight there must have been 7 (no kidding) news trucks in the "tornado zone" of 68th and 4th Ave. in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.
In the past month in the same area there was the vicious rape of an off-duty police office and the torture/murder of a respected local businessman by some young thugs. Both crimes remain unsolved. Too bad those crimes didn't warrant the same amount of news coverage.
police officer, not office.
"Some men were shooting at birds at Dreier-Offerman park."
From the provided link, it seemed like they were more like bored sociopathic brats than men.
Unsolicited marketing and advertisements everywhere might be a turn-off to many people. Let's take this to a whole 'nother level: what about a parking meter that is sponsored by a local business, and pays for your parking expense? That way, a store can rent a whole block of meters and when you go to put money in, your learn your space is compliments of a local business. That way, you can take something that may annoy some, but will benefit all users, AND generate revenue for the city.
Happy birthday, Matilda!
#7, the problem that comes up is that it is illegal to put money into a meter you are not parked in front of. There was a group a while back that would travel the streets and if they saw a meter was about to expire they would put some coin into it. The city was on them plenty quick. Also falling under the same law is feeding the meter, if your meter is say, 2 hours for 4 quarters and you park for 2 hours, it is a violation to put more money in the meter to extend your parking time beyond the 2 hours. One of the main reasons we have meters is to keep traffic turning over, so one car isn't parked in the same spot all day, my customers need to park too.
Regarding the ticketing story, by out-of-town cars they are referring to cars not registered in NY State, not just NYC. All NYS-registered cars have the barcode registration stickers on the windshield. The article even states "But tickets for out-of-state vehicles, which don't have New York bar codes, must be handwritten." Also, it is a bit of a misnomer to say "barcode tickets" when they're simply the typed-up tickets that spit out of the handheld machines.
"out-of-town TICKERS"?
Being a transplant to this great city, who's lived in quite a few high-density urban areas, the parking rules here seem a little odd. Never have seen 14' of no parking on both sides of a hydrant, in most cities 7' per side is enough (esp. when there are 2 hydrants per block). No parking in front of churches, what's up with that? We have to save spaces for someone's deity? On the plus side you can park all the up to the intersection; that's something you won't seein other cities (sucks for bikers and those needing to see the oncomming traffic though.) Street cleaning. I'm in Crown Heights, do you really need to clean my block 4 times per week? It still looks like crap. How about street cleaning once per week, but do it really well. Double parking is out of control here. In other cities you'll get your car towed off and impounded. Fresh Direct, my new mortal enemy. Those stupid, gargantuan, box-trucks they use are a menace. They will block a street in The Slope and back traffic up for blocks, screwing up traffic-light timings. How about a larger fleet of smaller vehicles, retired post office jeeps converted to electric perhaps? Here in Brooklyn there are dozens of supermarkets (including, for many, the very nice Fairway in Red Hook) and hundreds of bodegas and convenience stores within a couple of kilometers of our houses. Are we really so lazy that we need our groceries brought to us via GIANT truck? Sorry for the rant, but I feel much better.