Taking a cue from placard-abusing uncivil servants, parishoners of the First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn routinely park in the Henry Street bike lane, sporting a bogus "Church Business" placard. The 84 Pct in fact has been colluding with the Church to arrange this illegal behavior. When I asked a TEA as to why he wouldn't ticket these cars, he said he had orders from Brooklyn North. Looks like Gerald Nelson has some explaining to do.

More background can be found on Streetsblog http://www.streetsblog.org/2010/10/13/eyes-on-the-street-nypd-oks-bike-lane-blocking-on-henry-street/

Parked illegally in the bike lane / (bike lane transfer through intersection)

A long line of vehicles regularly park in the Park Ave. bike lane all along it's length through the Bronx. This is a representative example. Most of the cars display a variety of NYPD related permits- some expired, some simply display traffic vests placed on the dashboard etc. There is only space here for one so I posted the one with the EXPIRED permit. Some just have NYPD decals, some have other unofficial indicators of NYPD status conspicuously placed on the dash or in the window. This particular string of vehicles is parked along Park Ave. (note MTA North Tracks parallel) near the intersection of Park Ave. & E. 188th Street. This particular set of images was taken on Monday March 23 11:15 a.m.

The car was parked at the corner of Boerum Place and Livingston Street, on the SE corner. The car was full of crap and only had room for the driver, who was no where insight. Note the Court Office permit in the window.

This is on Brooklyn Bridge Blvd, going south. This street has 1 lane of parking, some spaces marked off with cones, one lane of traffic, and one very obvious green bike lane. The cops were not in the car. They were outside of it, standing around on the steps about 10 feet away. No one else was with them, they were just hanging out. They could have easily moved the cones out of the way, in the left hand lane across, but instead chose to park in the bike lane.

In one block (St. Nick between 123rd and 122nd), there were seven NYPD cruisers and personal vehicles parked in the bike lane. See this and other posts for photos of scores of NYPD personal vehicles parked on the sidewalk on the same block. Where are pedestrians and cyclists supposed to go?

This guy could have parked in any number of empty spaces around here, but chose this spot because it saved him a few steps.

MTA parks in the bike lane to get takeout from McDonald's, and is surprised upon his return to see the guy on the bike snap his photo. (Note the guy on the bike who had to steer into traffic around this parked MTA vehicle.) The "BIKE LANE • BIKES ONLY" sign and marked bike lane were of course clearly visible to the offending driver, who summarily ignored it. As plenty of parking spaces were available free of charge on this Sunday morning, such actions make the folks at MTA look like a pack of sloths.

WNYW Fox TV parked in the Centre Street bike lane

Possibly City Council or Mayor's office. This car is parked here every day. Still keeps his Permit # out of sight.

Another car from CBS, though perhaps not CBS radio. Permit on dash obscured by NY FOP card. Always good to leave multiple Fraternal Order of Police Active Supporter cards lying in view.

Nice to see the local cable news drives hybrid cars. Even if they park illegally.

One of 7 press cars parked for the day. Mr. Softee showed up later at 4:30 pm.

Press Vehicle in bike lane. Unknown news service since the permit was not displayed on dash. But a sponsor in good standing with the NYC PBA.

In the Bike Lane, No standing anytime. One of 7 press vehicles parked all day. No press permit displayed on dash.

Second Violation in the same week. Car still in the same spot 4 hours later. The only live news report going on in front of city hall, was a foreign news service that did not have a car parked nearby.

For the record, of the 21 vehicles parked in the bike lane at this time, I am posting only city admin and press vehicles, and not the 7 NYPD vehicles.

Actual totals were: 7 Press cars.
3 private cars/limos with no permits displayed.
3 City cars with official plates
1 handicapped permit
3 NYPD cruisers.
4 Unmarked cars with NYPD placards, most likely from the mayor's detail or intelligence service.

It is interesting to note that the city council cars all park within the city hall gates.

An official M-Plate city car parked in a No-standing Bike Lane. Note the well-obscured permit on the dash with plenty of out-of state and out-of-country police patches. More importantly, the plate listed on the permit does not match the plate on the car.