Street Films: Gridlock Sam on Govt Employee Parking Abuse

govt_parking.jpg
Gridlock Sam on Government Employee Parking Abuse
A Clarence Eckerson Street Film
Running time: 5:06, 13.80 MB, QuickTime

With the news emerging that State Court employees are blocking off a public street in Lower Manhattan to run their own, private valet parking service while illegal government employee parking costs New York City $46 million in potential annual revenues, Streetsblog thought this might be a good time to let former DOT Deputy Commissioner "Gridlock" Sam Schwartz, the Yoda of New York City parking policy, explain why it matters:

If we got rid of the government workers who are driving into Lower Manahttan, we could widen almost every sidewalk in Lower Manhattan. Right now so much space is just taken up by government workers who are encouraged to drive in. They get permits and they put them on their dashboard and they use up valuable space right in the heart of the financial district. The police department rarely writes a summons even if they are committing the most egregious violation, next to a hydrant, next to a bus stop, in a no standing zone.

And it’s not just the downtown area. Adjacent to some of the public schools we allow teachers to park. Why we give them parking, I don’t know. They say, ‘It’s hard to get to that school.’ Well, it’s probably hard for that butcher who has a little shop on that block to get there. And it’s hard for the person at the dry cleaners to get there, but we don’t give them parking spots. Why we give public employees parking spots is beyond me.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

God Said, “Let There Be Parking Placards.” And It Was So.

|
Only three days remain until 20 percent of government parking placards must be surrendered, but as Gridlock Sam wrote here last month, that should be just the beginning of placard reform. Case in point: Uncivil Servants featured a story last week of an Upper East Side synagogue that manufactures its own bogus placards while the […]

Two Doubleparked Traffic Agents, Sunnyside Up

|
Breakfasting NYPD traffic enforcement agents doubleparked at 97th St. and Amsterdam Ave. this morning Being a New York City traffic enforcement agent couldn’t be an easy job. If the cops are the city’s "Finest" and the firefighters the "Bravest," traffic enforcement agents have to be the "Most Disliked-est." Angry confrontations with ticketed motorists must be a regular part of the job. Certainly, the drivers of cars 7408 and […]

Parking Permit Abusers Being Cleared from Chinatown?

|
A Chinatown tipster sent along these remarkable pictures yesterday of what seems to be an effort to cut down on placarded vehicles clogging the neighborhood’s streets: There are white paper signs posted on lamp poles and parking meters that say "No Permit Area, Tow Away Zone." Lo and behold, there are hardly any cars with […]

To Thwart Terror Trial Traffic Snarls, Curb Placard Abuse

|
The pending trial of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed has thrown lower Manhattan into a tizzy, for good reasons. Foremost, of course, is the dread of revisiting the horrors of that day, mingled with fears of new attacks linked to the trial. But there are also concerns that the NYPD’s aggressive countermeasures will impede […]