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Lactivists are probably still reeling from the IKEA incident, but now CityRoom reports that on July 30th, Enrique Velez and Marta Lily were ticketed while breastfeeding in their parked car on East 27th Street. While they admit they were in a no-standing zone, their 6-month-old wasn't about to wait for them to get home, so Velez had run to his office nearby to heat up the breast milk. Allegedly he got caught up on a phone call, and Lily began nursing. Though their car wasn't blocking anyone, the officer gave them a $115 ticket for parking in a commercial no-meter zone, even though the no-standing restriction was only valid for another 20 minutes. The couple, as well as bystanders, explained the circumstances in hopes the officer would let it go, but to no avail. Velez told the site, “He didn’t care. We were not blocking anybody. It’s not like we had to move. There were not even cars.” Should the officer have turned a blind eye?
Breastfeeding Mom Ticketed
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the cops have busted the block of canal street near pearl paint.
I talked to them and they said that
[more]
If I kill somebody that nobody really likes, I shouldn't go to jail.
Let's have someone from the NYPD state again that their is no quota on ticketing? How ridiculous can they make themselves look anymore?
I've know of this happening before of stopping (pausing really) in a no parking zone while a spouse ran into the office to drop off paperwork. All of 5 mins the car was there, not blocking anything, and a ticket for $115 was MAILED to them. The cop didn't even approach the car.
Not moving for 5 minutes is parking.
The law is this: in a NO PARKING zone, you can stop to drop off passengers, or to load an unload packages, luggage, or merchandise.
In a NO STANDING zone (where this ticket was written), you can stop only to pick up or drop off passengers.
In a NO STOPPING zone, you can't stop at all.
"Waiting" is not legal in areas marked with any of those restrictions.
The driver was with the car the entire time. Argue the fine points if you want but the gall was that no police officer approached them, handed them a ticket, told them to move on etc. It showed up in the mail, which is ridiculous.
No, they were handed the ticket. Thats how the husband was able to photograph the incident and give it to the NYT.
Umm... since the article says "The couple, as well as bystanders, explained the circumstances in hopes the officer would let it go, but to no avail.." I would imagine that the officer did hang indeed hang around. Gall - terminated!
well, since the originating reply was talking about "I've know of this happening before... " i'd have to say reading comprehension terminated!
It has nothing to do with quotas. The guy is a traffic agent. His job is to write tickets when he sees cars in violation. This one was. His job does not entail making judgments about which violations to cite (that is, deciding who gets to break the law); his job is to cite all violations.
My tax dollars are paying the guy. I want him to do his job.
this isn't about breast feeding.
this is about breaking the law (as ridiculous as it might be).
nice spin, jen. really making a career out of doing so, huh?
+1
Breastfeeding is at best, only indirectly related to the story.
This isn't even worth mentioning.
yellow journalism at its finest...
srsly
It was a no standing zone at the time, the ticket is certainly justified. There was no reason for him to leave the car there, other than laziness in not wanting to walk any farther than necessarily.
Everybody has a rationalization for illegal parking, double parking, etc. usually along the lines of "I was just running into [blank] to [do blank]." And of course, "I should be able to knowingly break the law if I don't see that anyone is being inconvenienced by it."
That's an expensive phone call. Hope it was worth it!
I have no problem with the ticket -- I see it happen all the time in my neighborhood. No standing means no standing and the you don't mess with the city when it's Jonesing for cash. The mom wasn't in a position to operate the car while breast-feeding so it would have been much better to either abandon the stop-over or pull into a parking garage for 15 minutes. Garage attendees are much more understanding than the NYPD -- and it would have been much cheaper in the end.
That was a parking ticket, not a nursing ticket.
"We were not blocking anybody. It’s not like we had to move."
Translation: "It's not like we had to obey the law."
No standing = No parking. Lactate all you want, feed the kid in public, all fine but you've got no leg to stand on here. Sounds like the creeping entitlement syndrome to me. My kid's perceived needs trump all rules and regulations. WON'T ANYONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!
Exactly. THANK YOU.
YES. A+ for the day. You may leave early.
Supposed to be for fax [11]. Stupid software x 23890423.
nicely put. I agree wholeheartly
What on earth does this have to do with breastfeeding? They weren't standing in a no-standing zone because she was feeding her kid, they were doing it -- by their own admission -- because her husband couldn't be bothered to get the fuck off his cell phone and move the car. In addition to being douchebaggery, that's also illegal, and good on the cop for not falling for the "OMG MY WIFE IS LACTATING" excuse.
I get pissed when cops/traffic agents do not do their job; not when they follow the letter of the law and dole out punishment where it is due.
its a legit ticket, i gotten alot of illegitimate ones.
My sentiments exactly. I've gotten tickets where I've fought and won because I was in the right. This one sounds and by her own admission - like it is a legitimate ticket. No sympathies here.
Additionally, I frequently drive around that area where the ticket was issued (I like the Kips Bay Movie Theater) and there are plenty of legitimate spots to park or if not wait around and idle. Since the sun was out at 2:30pm when it happened you could have just idled on a block with street parking at a hydrant. Where are these people from? Ohio? Don't they savvy Manhattan driving? just kidding..
From what I understand, they have gotten two other parking tickets recently. Sounds to me like they just don't think traffic and parking laws apply to them, breastfeeding or not.
Pleasepleasepleaseplease send these traffic officers to Newark. Folks here double park in the middle of the busiest downtown streets during rush hour, then casually saunter into stores to do some shopping while lanes of traffic back up behind their vehicles and begin honking. Should be a hangin' crime.
This post might as well read "Man with Penis gets Parking Ticket".
I'm a breastfeeding mother with a 2 month old, and I have no sympathy. The car was parked. I disagree with City Room's spin on the "breastfeeding" bit. Who cares about the details? It was a parked car no matter how you spin it.
Why did the milk have to be heated up? Was it cold? If not, room temperature milk is not going to hurt your baby. Heck, you can even google "cold formula" or "cold breastmilk" and see that it all depends on the baby. Room temperature is middle ground and I haven't heard a single story about a baby who couldn't handle room temperature breast milk or formula.
With Lily being able to nurse in the car, there really was no need to get out of the car and heat up a bottle. That time would have been better spent looking for a parking spot.
Even I, a breast feeding advocate, agree that the ticket was fair and had nothing to do with BF. Besides, there was no reason for stopping in the first place, I think it's just a sympathy ploy that isn't working.
I received a ticket for dropping my then-pregnant wife off at the OB-GYN, and waiting in a no parking zone. While I tried to explain it to the officer, I still got a ticket. I tried to fight it, got it knocked down abit, and paid it.
As others have said, regardless of the intention, I knew what I was doing was illegal, took a risk, lost, and paid the price.
"As others have said, regardless of the intention, I knew what I was doing was illegal, took a risk, lost, and paid the price."
Exactly. I've gotten my share of parking tickets, speeding tickets, whatever. I realize I'm breaking the law in those situations, and rolling the dice. I'm gambling my convenience against the possibility of a fine.
If I lose, OK, I lost. Pay up and move on.
Boo Hoo Hoo. The couple should just contest the ticket, they'll probably win. They were technically violating the law, the cop did his job-- ticket 'em all and let a ALJ sort it out.
While I do have an appreciation of journalistic spin, might I suggest that you re-headline this as "Guy gets ticket while on phone call, wife in car happens to be lactating". Much more accurate, less inflammatory. But I guess that's not the point, is it? BTW, as known from my prev posts, love those breasts in all their uses and manifestations, wonderful creation of nature. Bad parkers just tick me off.
And just re-read. She was nursing. no need to heat up a bottle. HE was on a phone call. Why didn't they just pull over in a legal Standing spot and nurse? And no, not continue driving with an unrestrained infant and nurse. I live in the neighborhood, and there's plenty of places they could have pulled over to nurse. Dad had to go to the office, left Mom in the car, got tagged, pay the fine. I call Shenanigans.
What kind of asshat stops to take a phone call when you know your infant is sitting outside waiting to be fed? Let alone that a breastfeeding mother should have no reason to "heat up a bottle"
No standing zones are there for a reason (aren't they?), not just to inconvenience people.
A bit off topic, but I once saw a car illegally parked with blinkers on at a hydrant outside a building that had a fire alarm ringing. Sure enough, the FDNY came and broke both the guys windows (and then some) to get the hose through to the building. Funny part was that it turned out to be a false alarm.
Wow, I've never even seen anyone get a ticket for stopping in a no-standing zone. It's always seemed to be a free-for-all. People think they can stop there as long as they're in the car. Frankly, they're blocking traffic and making things worse for pedestrians, bus riders, and drivers. I'm glad that some tickets are being given out!
Oh boo-hoo. Maybe the officer could have asked them to move the car instead but don't get down on him for doing his job.
They have PA plates.
I wonder if they actually live in PA or there are some insurance shenanigans going on.
that cop was just trying to see some breastfeeding
Hopefully, the kid doesn't grow up to be an overentitled douchebag like it's parents.
+1
The cop should've checked to see if they were legal immigrants too.
"Excessive lactation in a No Lactating Zone."
When you have to stop by the office to make a call and you leave your lactating wife and baby in the car, maybe you shouldn't be such a cheapass and actually pay to park in a garage.
If you plug this number "7893710330" into the NYC Dept. of Finance website, you will find that Enrique Velez also has another (unpaid) violation from May.
Are parking violations a habit for him?
People with children think they are above the law based on their childs' needs. And people with children think they are in a privileged class all their own which makes them better than people without children. But what people with children need to know is that even the filthy rats you see running around the subway tracks have offspring.