Parks Construction Contractors on Sidewalk
Observed by JF on Thu, Mar 22 2007
Part of Theodore Roosevelt Park is closed for construction, and this unmarked white van pretty clearly belongs to one of the construction contractors. Obviously they need a convenient place to park their truck to unload supplies and have it handy for supply runs and tool storage.
However, that's no justification for taking sidewalk space. It's a warm spring day, and the sidewalk was very busy. Plus, with that part of the park closed there was less recreation space available. And this was clearly there for the afternoon: the construction workers were inside the park, and I sat and ate my lunch nearby for fifteen minutes and didn't see anyone go near the truck.
Unfortunately, this is a common practice near parks: I've seen all kinds of vehicles on official parks business (marked Parks vehicles, contractor vehicles) treat the sidewalk (or worse, parkland) as a handy parking area.
The obvious solution would be curbside parking. I know that curbside parking is hard to find on the Upper West Side, but that's no reason to take my sidewalk space. The Parks Department needs to come up with some way to reserve space for official business and not cause hazardous situations.
On a side note, the permit is clearly bogus, and this is nowhere near the Fifth Precinct; I think Deputy Inspector Yee would be interested to know about this.
Finally, the license plate number is blurry on my cell phone picture; it may not actually be the one I typed in.
6 Comments
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Posted on Thu, Mar 22 2007 at 04:45 PM
I agree with #1. This is NYC and people are people doing people things. Both right and wrong. Why do we always point out the bad stuff? Anyhow... that is why this city STINKS. Too many people in a cramped place will push others to do DIFFERENT or RADICAL things. The bottom line is this.... no one is innocent. Rules are broken all the time.... thank goodness that not many are KILLED by it. Stuff happens.
Posted on Thu, Mar 22 2007 at 04:53 PM
Anon 4:45 PM, I'm pointing out the bad stuff because it's dangerous. In this case there was room to walk around the truck, but often when people park on the sidewalk it forces others to walk in the street, where they can be, in your words, "KILLED." Do you get that? There are lives at stake.
If I do something that puts other people's lives in danger, I want to know about it. If I know about it and don't do anything, then please by all means expose me publicly and have my employer discipline me. Isn't that fair?
Posted on Thu, Mar 22 2007 at 05:22 PM
Over 30 US Soldiers got killed last month. That's dangerous and uncalled for. How many people are KILLED in NYC due to this so called problem. It's an inconvenience not so much danger, death, etc. People are overreacting.
Posted on Thu, Mar 22 2007 at 05:44 PM
Funny you should say that, Anon 5:22. Just the other night I was at a vigil for these soldiers, as well as all the other people that got killed over in Iraq so that we could have cheap gas. Were you there too?
It's hard to tell how many people were killed because they had to walk around a car parked on the sidewalk, because a lot of them could be mislabeled "jaywalkers." Maybe the TA people can tell us if they have any numbers on this.
In any case, I'm not sure what the point of your comparison is. So what if it's more dangerous in a war zone? Danger is danger, and one person killed or injured for some contractor's convenience is too many.
Plenty of people in Iraq have no running water; if a New Yorker complains because Con Ed shuts off their water should we just tell them to shut up and take it?
Posted on Thu, Mar 22 2007 at 05:44 PM
JF, thanks for taking care of the plate
Posted on Thu, Mar 22 2007 at 11:01 PM
It's the attitude of "We can do whatever we want, when we want" that has made the USA so hated in the eyes of so many. Try doing something not because it is convenient to you, but because it is better for the world.
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