It's no coincidence that less than 48 hours after HUDseen pointed out the long-term parked black Mini Cooper on South Front Street with just one three-week-old ticket on it that it was BOOTed by HPD. They had obviously let this one slip through one of the many cracks that are prevalent in HPD's enforcement of overnight parking.
Had this car instead originally been parked, say, on January 1st in the 500 block of State Street, it would have been ticketed every other night so often and so regularly that it would have been considered abandoned by Captain David Miller and likely towed and impounded within two or three weeks. Probably in January! But because it was parked on Front Street, it evaded the grasp and eyes of HPD. It didn't look like an abandoned vehicle (so new and shiny!), so they ignored it. For months. That is, until HUDseen pointed out the flaw and inconsistency that car represented. And the general incoherence and mess that overnight parking enforcement clearly is.
The message from those in charge at HPD is clear: You cannot leave your parked vehicle in the same on-street parking space for a long period of time. It's not good for the city. We will ticket you and then tow you if you do not respond by moving your car (that is, if we notice your parked car at all). There is to be no parking in the same on-street parking space for weeks or months, and certainly not for years. We will not tolerate this! We have rules and you must abide by them (if we notice your car, of course).
But we do have one exception, particularly if you are homeless but own two vehicles and need a place to sleep and store your belongings for as long as you like.
You can leave your vehicle -- even your rusty old white van, whether or not it actually operates or the driver's seat is able to be occupied by a human -- in the same space in a city parking lot for over a year and a half and we will not ticket or tow you. Just pay us $250 every year and we will leave your vehicle alone and leave you alone to sleep in peace. You and your vehicle will be safe here in Hudson, but only in a parking lot of ours (well, yours, really!). That's right, there is no such thing as an abandoned vehicle in a city parking lot. And, oh, by the way, leave your belongings wherever you like, but please try to keep them confined to your personal parking space -- we like things to look nice in our parking lots! And if you have a second vehicle that needs a place to park LONG TERM in one of the city's SHORT TERM parking lots, by all means, park it and leave it in any of the parking lots, even the same lot as your other permitted vehicle. Hell, park them next to each other if you can! For as long (term) as you like! You don't even need to sleep in your vehicles! You don't need to ever move them or clear the junk off the top of them (or from underneath them). Just be sure to pay for your $250 annual parking lot permit and renew it every year and you are good to go. Do you have a 3rd vehicle you need to store or sleep in? Sure, why not, our lots can handle another one! There are plenty of parking spaces in our parking lots for your multiple vehicles to remain for years. Remember, though -- and we can't stress this enough -- you must pay $250 for a personal parking space to store your vehicle for the year; the space is not free. You give us your money, you display your permit in your vehicle, and we leave you and your vehicle(s) alone. Just don't park on a city street. Then we will come after your vehicle. And swiftly (if we notice your vehicle, of course). Then we may have to tow your inoperable vehicle(s) away!!!! This is the law! Don't fuck with us; we are the law, and we mean it! Keep your vehicle(s) -- whether they operate or not -- in the same space in one of the city's five downtown parking lots, and we'll be happy to accommodate you and your vehicles there. Because that is where they (and you) belong. Be sure to tell your friends and neighbors about this exceptional exception to the overnight parking rule here in Hudson. It may only be here for a limited time.
Got it?
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| In the shadows of City Hall for the past 6 or 7 months. The flat tire was repaired a few weeks ago. It has yet to roll even an inch. |
Here is a parking ticket (the one put on the Cooper early yesterday morning) -- the dreaded $150 "BOOT ADMIN FEE" ticket -- that you will never find on the windshield of any vehicle parked in any of the city's five downtown SHORT TERM parking lots, including the lot directly behind City Hall, the city's largest and most popular lot. Prior to 3 or 4 years ago, however, when HPD regularly enforced the overnight alternate side parking rule in the City Hall lot (thanks to a pair of signs, the rule existed), issuing a $150 BOOT FEE ticket was possible in that lot. It probably happened, BOOT and all. Since then, though, there's been no WRONG SIDE ticketing, no BOOT ADMIN FEE ticketing and no BOOTing of vehicles to be had in the lot! You see, $15 WRONG SIDE PARKING tickets -- no different than those issued nightly on State Street, Warren Street and so many others, irregularly on Front Street, and never on Prospect Avenue where Rob Perry has lived for over twenty years -- were regularly issued in that short term lot by HPD officers. You know, to keep vehicles from remaining LONG TERM in the same metered parking space, especially those vehicles that are abandoned or otherwise don't operate. You know, long term, as in days, weeks, months and, yes, even years! Well, then the rule (and signs) disappeared a few years ago, thanks to our pals at Galvan, Kamal Johnson, the Police Commissioner, Rob Perry and a whole host of unsavory characters with the best interests of Hudson residents and the city's bottom line in mind, the story behind which you would have a difficult time believing, let alone understanding (if you haven't read about it on HUDseen already).
Last month, during the meeting of the so-called SAFETY Committee, I asked Captain Miller what the heck was going on with the white van in the short term City Hall lot that has been parked for over a year and a half in the same space. His response after a pause of a few seconds? "We're working on the white van," he said rather quietly and with no conviction. I asked for elaboration. Alas, committee chair Henry Haddad came to Miller's rescue, shutting me down. Well, at least the second in command at HPD was aware of and doing something about the white van, right? He had been "working on it," after all. Well, not so fast, buddy! At this month's SAFTETY Committee meeting (with endless talk of parking issues being the main focus), chair Haddad either forgot to ask Captain Miller about his progress on the white van still parked (for another month) in the same space in the City Hall lot or he intentionally decided to spare the Miller the awkwardness of having to admit he had actually done absolutely nothing about the white van that was still in the same space a month later. If I had had time during Monday's meeting to ask Captain Miller about his progress with his "work" on the white van, I might have asked him, "Are you working on the van's transmission or its carburetor? Or nothing at all?"
This van hasn't moved for over a year and a half. It isn't
required to move. Captain Miller, Chief Franklin, Lt. Nick Pierro
and the Parking Bureau don't mind one bit. Apparently, the
mayor doesn't care, either.
What an absolutely inglorious mess we have allowed City Hall to create for us. I'm not kidding when I say that the proper functioning of City Hall can only be fixed if the whole slate is wiped clean and we start over from scratch. And no more mayors, please.
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