This afternoon at 2:00, I came across three $10,000 parking kiosks on Warren Street that were out of service -- the two in the 500 block and the one in the 600 block. They had all been installed ten or eleven days ago, and they were all showing the same message on their screens.
The new paid parking system that the Hudson Police Department, the mayor's office and the common council have fully embraced has forced parking enforcers off of the sidewalks and into the streets. With parking meters gone, there is little reason for enforcers to spend most of their time on the sidewalk, as they used to do until recently. They can't spend a majority of their time on the sidewalk because there's nothing there anymore to assist them in issuing parking tickets. This is beyond stupid and dangerous. This is no improvement; this is a dangerous step or two backwards.
This is the parking "receipt" I received yesterday after dropping a quarter into one of Warren Street's recently installed "new" $10,000 parking kiosks, all of which were delivered to the city 17 months ago. The piece of paper measures 5 inches by 2.25 inches, with print on both sides. The kiosks refer to each of their own printed "receipts" as a "permit." "Permit" on the screen; "receipt" on the permit. Every single one of the receipts/permits that our kiosks print out will eventually be driven to a landfill somewhere far, far away, right where they belong for eternity. Unless, of course, they get tossed to the ground and wind up in our sewer system. Maybe, if we're lucky, a bunch of them will make their way into the Hudson River!
Is it any wonder that two people were hit by turning vehicles in this crosswalk last December? Within 40 hours of one another, no less!
After waiting for about 20 seconds until it was "safe" to cross the southern end of Park Place this morning, the father and mother holding her infant child made it across alive. The crossing itself took about 15 seconds (mother walking slowly while holding baby).
I seem to remember attending an informal common council meeting several years ago when someone asked Rob Perry if a sign of some sort on the garbage bag vending machine out front of City Hall would be helpful. You know, like a sign identifying what the blue things are inside the machine.
Last Wednesday or Thursday, the one kiosk for both sides of the 400 block of Warren was installed near the midpoint of the odd side of the block. It is situated adjacent to the middle of a parking space, waiting to be hit by a car door or a human head. Mon Dieu!
This afternoon at 2:00, I came across three $10,000 parking kiosks on Warren Street that were out of service -- the two in the 500 block and...
