Only In Hudson. I'm Tellin' Ya, THIS CAN ONLY BE TRUE IN HUDSON!

 

The foundational building blocks of common sense, professionalism, communication, coherence and consistency go a long way for a municipality, don't they?   Sadly, it seems that Hudson City Hall is missing those important qualities in droves.  And things have only worsened in the past six years -- it's like no one has been paying attention.  Still.  Take parking tickets, for example.

If HPD issues a parking ticket to a vehicle parked 3, 4, 5 or more feet from the curb, the offense is known as IMPROPER PARKING.  Of course, anyone parked too far from the curb (I don't know what distance the limit is) is creating a dangerous situation for other vehicles and other drivers (and cyclists) as well as the illegally parked vehicle, though not for that driver.  The situation is particularly dangerous close to an intersection where vehicles are turning toward the improperly parked car sticking too far into the traffic lane. An IMPROPER PARKING ticket will cost you just ten dollars, the same amount that a parking meter violation ticket will set you back.  Just ten dollars for parking stupidly, disrespectfully and dangerously (and possibly intentionally) -- creating a hazardous situation primarily for other people.  

Failing to put a quarter in a meter (it hurts to say that!) or parking dangerously, there's no difference in the eyes of HPD.  Pay ten dollars, please!  Another example of a $10 Improper Parking ticket is a vehicle with two wheels parked on the curb, which is not really a danger to anyone.  Yet another example is someone completely parking their vehicle on a sidewalk.  This is also, apparently, no big deal (except to all pedestrians!), and also just a $10 IMPROPER PARKING offense.  It's offensive, no pun intended.

If you fail to keep your car parked overnight on the correct side of the street -- leaving it on the so-called wrong side -- and HPD notices, you will be issued a $15 ticket, $5 more than, say, parking your car a few feet from the curb for a few minutes or several hours, even overnight, or failing to properly fill a parking meter or kiosk.  It's called a WRONG SIDE PARKING ticket, and HPD issues them whether or not the DPW street sweeper is out at 3:00 in the morning doing its thing.  Even when neither the DPW snowplows nor sweeper are out doing their thing and no cars parked on the so-called wrong side of the street are in the way of any DPW vehicles, HPD will issue $15 WRONG SIDE PARKING tickets -- primarily to residents, of course.  

Last night would be an example of HPD issuing overnight tickets that really are nothing more than a money-grab scam that does not make life in Hudson better or easier for anyone, including DPW Superintendent Rob Perry (who makes over $125,000 a year and owns a house on a portion of a street where there are never any overnight parking rules and HPD does not ticket any parked cars in the morning).   The sweeper wasn't out last night, and neither were any snowplows.  So what!  Ticket them anyway for not being in the way of DPW's work vehicles and for not being on the WRONG SIDE of DPW's streets!  But be sure not to ticket any vehicles parked on the lower part of Prospect Avenue!  Mr. DPW would be really unhappy with Mrs. HPD!

But HPD doesn't just issue WRONG SIDE PARKING tickets in the early morning hours.  If you park your car anywhere at any time of the day or night facing in the wrong direction, you may be issued that same $15 WRONG SIDE PARKING ticket for parking on literally the wrong side of the street.  HPD does not differentiate between people who mistakenly or deliberately leave their vehicles overnight on the "wrong side" of the street and those who have deliberately driven in the opposite lane of traffic to park on the left side of the street headed in the wrong direction.  That situation, especially as the car or truck is pulling in and pulling out of the space, obviously creates an unsafe situation.  But HPD sees it as the same level of offense as forgetting to move your car off of the wrong side of the street for the night even when the DPW street sweeper isn't out and there is no "wrong" side of the street for anyone to be in the sweeper's or plows' way.  Are you scratching your head yet?

Parked dangerously and improperly: ten dollars!

It is entirely possible that a car could be ticketed twice by the same Hudson cop at 2:00 in the morning for parking overnight on the so-called wrong side of the street while being parked on the left side of the street.  A vehicle parked on the literal and figurative WRONG SIDE of the street could be issued two tickets at once that would both be worded the same -- $15 for WRONG SIDE PARKING.  But that could never happen on the right side of any street.  Am I right or wrong?

There are no overnight parking rules on much of Columbia Street above 3rd where parking is never allowed on the south side of the street, nor at the end of Prospect Avenue where our DPW Superintendent lives and where a nearby car repair business takes advantage of the long-term free parking situation, nor on North 6th between State and Washington near an illegal and unlicensed car repair business that also takes advantage of the long term free parking, and finally, not for several months of the year on Cross Street where plenty of people using the Amtrak train park their cars for a day or days without being ticketed, towed or even noticed by HPD, avoiding the ten dollar per day fee in the city's Amtrak lot. (If there are other streets with limited or no overnight parking rules, I am not aware of them.)

This truck remained parked on North 6th Street for
at least 4 months early this year.  It never moved and
it was never ticketed by HPD.  Does Mishanda Franklin 
live anywhere near 6th & Prospect?

Depending on the time of year, if you park your car overnight on the so-called wrong side of Prospect Street or Washington  tStreet, you will either be ticketed with a $15 WRONG SIDE PARKING ticket (December through March) or a $25 NO PARKING ZONE ticket (April through November).  This, I think, is also true on much or all of Union Street.  What the flying hell is up with this?  On certain city streets, depending on the month, HPD issues two differently priced and named tickets FOR THE EXACT SAME OFFENSE!  Whether or not the street sweeper is out or there is no snow on the ground!

The dumbfounding $25(top)/$15(bottom) signs for the two
overnight parking rules on the south side of Prospect Street.

 The $25(top)/$15 (bottom) rules for the
 north side of Washington Street.  Still confused?
Why, for example, do these rules not apply to State 
or Warren?  Because, dummy, there are no signs for overnight
parking rules anywhere on those streets! Wake the hell up!

The $25 NO PARKING ZONE tickets issued overnight by HPD on Prospect, Washington, Union, etc. is the same $25 NO PARKING ZONE ticket they issue at any time of the day or night to vehicles parked against a yellow curb or beyond a NO PARKING ANY TIME sign near an intersection.  Parking in those NO PARKING ZONES makes things dangerous for others -- they are to remain unoccupied for good reason.  But parking on the so-called wrong side of Prospect Street at night does not make things dangerous for anyone, no matter what time of the year it occurs.  But HPD and DPW don't seem to care about the unfairness and incoherence of it all, because it sure brings HPD lots of money, with more of it rolling in during the warmer months when overnight NO PARKING ZONES appear out of nowhere on a few city streets.

Am I right to say that this is all SO WRONG and DUMB?

A stone's throw from HPD and its 
new Parking Bureau.  It's obvious no one 
is paying attention enough to care.