12 DECEMBER 13, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Spare the cones, share the roads (RT)
We know how diffi cult it is
to find and keep a great
parking spot on the streets
of Ridgewood, Glendale, Maspeth,
Middle Village — heck, all of Queens.
We know that drivers treat a parking
spot in front of, or very close to,
their homes as if they had found the
golden goose. We know that they
want to keep it for as long as possible,
if not forever, and will stop just short
of wrapping barbed wire around the
spot in order to keep it.
But the reality is that parking spots
on the streets belong to no one. They
are available to any driver, regardless
of where they live. The streets are public,
and the spots are up for grabs on
a fi rst-come, fi rst-served basis. If you
move your car from a spot, you’re not
guaranteed that you’ll have that same
spot by the time you return.
The Liberty Park area of Glendale
was reminded of that fact last week
when the 104th Precinct did a sweep
of the neighborhood and confi scated
numerous orange cones that homeowners
used to block vehicles from
parking in “their” spots.
“Please do not place cones in the
street that obstruct vehicular traffi c
and do not put out cones to save parking
spots on #NYC public streets,”
tweeted Deputy Inspector John Mastronardi,
commanding offi cer of the
104th Precinct.
Mastronardi is correct. Any kind of
obstruction — whether it’s a parking
cone, a garbage can or any other type
of object that inhibits someone from
parking their vehicle — left in the
streets without permission is not only
against the law, but also a safety hazard.
The problem of parking obstructions
isn’t nearly as bad as in areas
with alternate-side parking rules.
That’s because drivers have to move
their vehicles at least once a week to
allow for street sweepers. Even so,
we know that protective drivers
across the city pull the cone trick
and have been getting away with it
for too long.
We’re glad the 104th Precinct is staying
on top of the situation, but we urge
all drivers to be more considerate of
the streets, the neighbors and the law.
As for what to do about increasing
the number of available parking spots
in our area, we don’t have an easy answer
to that.
The city can’t build new streets
without tearing down homes and
displacing families. Lots across
the five boroughs that have
been used for municipal parking
are being developed into new
businesses.
The most obvious answer would
be for drivers to consider ditching
a second car and taking public
transit instead — but that answer’s
unrealistic as long as the MTA continues
to neglect its duty of making
subway and bus service quick and
reliable. That subject is for another
editorial.
EDITORIAL
ESTABLISHED 1908
Co-Publishers
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA SCHNEPS
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ROBERT POZARYCKI
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ALEJANDRA O'CONNELL-DOMENECH
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