Who Will Save Us? Or Is It Too Late (After 4 PM)?

At 10 am this morning, no one was available at the so-called Parking Bureau, and the same unhelpful "we are temporarily closed" sign that was on the window last Friday was still there. (Shouldn't the sign be on the front doors of the building or at the entrance to the parking lot or, better yet, at the corner of 7th & Union?!!!!)  There is still no indication on the sign when or if a human being will return to occupy the office behind the window "M-F 9AM-5PM."  The closure is temporarily ambiguously indefinite.  It's just temporary, mind you!  

Can you imagine?

Sure you can!

What's The Opposite Of A Sinkhole? A Volcano?

I first noticed the strange wet problem on Spring Street on July 31st, nearly two months ago, if only because someone had marked it with spray paint.  That paint is long gone, but the problem has been ignored (likely by DPW) and it has only worsened.  A lot.  The asphalt in front of 6 Spring looks ready to erupt at any moment.  The well-cracked large hump, which slowly releases water constantly, is now two or three inches high at its apex.  (Pictures can't convey the severity of the hump very well.)

Sure, Doubling The Ticket Fee To $20 Sounds Appropriate! We Need The Extra Money To Fix The Kiosks!

During Thursday's Legal Committee meeting, chair Margaret Morris, with the help of council attorney Ken Dow, made it clear that she really wanted to get in order and on paper her proposal to raise the price of every parking ticket so that the council can vote on the proposal tonight and get the new ticket fees codified. There's a whole lot to say about the proposed increased initial fees and late fees (the latter is beyond absurd!), but I will just stick with one aspect of the fee overhaul and juxtapose it with reality on the ground.

Pictorial Evidence Of mayor Ferris' "Safer" Intersection, Still The City's Most Dangerous Place To Walk!

The car above had just turned off of Park Place. Yes, it was stopped, though the two elderly pedestrians, while standing in the crosswalk, essentially got permission from the driver to resume their crossing of the street.  Pedestrians attempting to communicate via eye contact with people behind the wheel and glass of a multi-ton vehicle, particularly those that are moving, is usually a challenge, never fun, not always successful, and often doesn't end well.  Vehicles tend to have the upper hand in this ugly relationship that is regularly forced on pedestrians.  My motto is, "You can't reason with a vehicle; you can only curse it.  Don't assume it's going to stop."

Welcome To The New & Improved Parking Bureau At HPD! Go The Hell Away! We Don't Want To Help You Pay For Your Parking Ticket!! Now Scram!

On Wednesday at 9:10 am, inside the HPD station at 701 Union, I came across three people (two seated, one standing) waiting for someone behind the Parking Bureau window to lift the blind so that they could pay their parking tickets.  None of them looked thrilled to be waiting and wondering.  One woman was filling out an envelope to be put in the slot, having given up on the idea of handing her money to a human being.  She didn't have a hard surface or clipboard to write on. 45 minutes later, the blind was up and the clerk was ready to accept money, questions, and complaints.

Welcome To JUNKville, NY! Visit Our Beautiful Riverfront Public Park And Leave Your JUNK There! We Love THE JUNK Like No Other City! Please Return Often!

If "ASSHOLES" Is Acceptable, What's The Heck Is Next?

During Monday's meeting of the so-called SAFETY Committee, there was a new word added to the growing list of cuss words spoken at public meetings in City Hall.  Over the past two years or less, I've heard the words shit and bullshit thrown around several times at meetings (once each from me, Henry Haddad and Dominic Merante, and the rest from Rob Perry, who, one of his clerks once told me, has a "foul mouth").  Prior to Monday, though, I had never heard the word ASSHOLES uttered.  The times sure are a-changin', ain't they! 

At the 32-minute mark of the meeting, during a somewhat lengthy discussion about a recent incident in the 700 block of Warren Street involving a so-called first amendment auditor that got HPD's attention, committee chair Henry Haddad, apparently not quite sure what these "auditors" do or who they are, had a question for the others in the room who did know.  Interrupting Dominic Merante, Henry asked, and I quote:  "Is this one of those YouTube assholes... that comes up to you in public?"