The PBA will say this loudly, and it will be trumpeted constantly by those who want to defend the illegal parking practices, but it is nowhere in the contract, nowhere on record with the Department of Labor, it is not justified, not respectful of the neighborhoods where it happens, and it is not cool.

http://www.thevillager.com/villager_196/meterstickingdownon.html

http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/01/19/battle-of-the-weatherpeople/#comments

Maybe not "anywhere" but pretty close to it.

The angle parking in front of precincts and the parking regulations around them were created unilaterally by the NYPD and handed down as writ to the DOT and the community boards.

If you go to community board meetings enough and get to know the cops and DOT and political people they will tell you that. Some high ranking cops with big mouths have even bragged about their power at public meetings. One did so some years back at a Community board 4 (mhtn) meeting when asked about the expanded police parking at the precinct on west 30th street. The cops there have taken over about 3/4ths of the parking and created vertical stalls everywhere. Making deliveries is impossible.

For the record, no one called anyone a "Nazi Bastard" in this discussion. If you search this entire web page for the word "Nazi" or "Bastard" -- it's easy to do in your web browser -- you won't find either word until you wrote them.

I, not Steve, was the first to cast aspersions about the likelihood that cops might sell metrocards. I can get pretty angry about the overabundance of cars, but calling people nazis is not constructive.

I hesitated to mention my made-up idea of cops selling their metrocards, but it was part of my selling the idea of a hi-tech police sheild that can also open any turnstile or NYC transit entry point, without the need for a transit attendant. One reason I think that would be an improvement to the current system (clarified by John, thanks) is that it would eliminate situations like the one a couple years ago, where a stabbing victim bled to death on a subway platform, and the responders could not get into the station right away because they didn't have Metrocards, and there was no attendant on duty--just those medieaval, arm-breaking vertical turnstiles!

I ask all of you to ask the City for that--a system where first responders' very ID--e.g., a police or fire shield--can open any turnstile, perhaps by some wireless signal, or a swipe-able design. Its constant presence (part of the shield) would be another small way of making it easy NOT to drive; it would probably reduce bureaucracy of administering employee Metrocards; and it would make life easier for transit-using employees.

-I did not pretend to have any special knowledge in my post as to whether NYPD officers get Metrocards or transitchecks. I am aware that there of lots of people who receive transitchecks (as distinct from metrocards) and sell them to others, and I speculated as to whether NYPD members may do that as well.

-I'm happy to call them NYPD.

-Likewise, I did not pretend to have special knowledge as to whether DOT authorized this lot at Columbus Circle. My post reads, "I wonder if" and "for all I know." So why your reference to an "obvious case of misinformation?" And do you know that DOT authorized this lot?

-I do question whether the command-level officers who have reserved spaces in this lot are out on patrol or covering emergencies, and I can't really tell from your post whether you are making a general assertion about all command level officers, or you have some special knowledge about these command level officers.

-I understand that command-level officers (and other officers) may need to respond to emergencies in the transit system by car quickly. I discuss that in comment #46 above. And to add some detail, I notice that a number of the cars parked in this lot with NYPD placards have child seats and other things suggesting they are not official vehicles.

-I don't hate cops or think they are "Nazi bastards." For reasons already discussed in this thread, many, many NYPD placard holders feel entitled to park in ways that their placards do not entitle them to do. Some of this illegal parking by placard holders inconveniences and endangers pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists who use this three-block stretch as well.

In the three weeks this lot has been in place, the "overflow" illegal parking by placard holders has gotten steadily worse. Here are some examples from this morning:

Parking on the sidewalk (told you it wouldn't take long for this to start!):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43954081@N00/368090278/in/photostream/

Completely blocking wheelchair ramp and crosswalk:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43954081@N00/368090280/in/photostream/

The fact is John, I'm on your side, I'd like to see a major overhaul of placard parking. One of the days I was taking photos in this lot I saw a guy with press credentials parking in it, so there is abuse all around, I agree. But when a new lot with reserved spaces springs up mushroom-like overnight, and within a few weeks other placard holders start parking in the adjacent bus stops, crosswalks, and sidewalks in a manner to endanger and inconvenience others with progressive frequency--while the reserved spaces sit empty or are used for what appears to be private autos used for commuting--I consider that a legitimate opportunity to raise awareness and focus attention on the general problem. That's what I'm trying to do.

I appreciate that you recognize that these kind of parking activities are "not always right" and I am interested in what ideas you may have to trying to fix it.

I can see the value in having patrol cars for transit officers, especially at times when the subways aren't running frequently, but I see no reason for commuter parking at transit headquarters, or for cars for the brass.

I also disagree with you about priorities in parking. I've called 311 about some people (used car dealerships and parks staff) parking on the sidewalk, and I'd call more often (about the fire station, for example), but I'm not convinced that the police would take my concerns seriously. I've walked by my precinct and seen the number of cars (patrol cars, unmarked cars and commuter cars) blocking half the sidewalk. If the cops see parking on the sidewalk as a privilege, why would I expect them to deny it to someone else? I don't want them to feel above the law because they can park on the sidewalk while ticketing other people for doing the same thing, so I think that they should set an example on this issue. Is that too much to ask?

The problem with this lot is that many of the spaces seem to be reserved for command-level employees that probably rarely leave their desks except in the case of a major emergency. In the case of such an emergency, wouldn't those commanding officers be driven in an emergency vehicle, so they could amange the situation via radio or cell phone en route? These reserved spaces are clearly being used to store private vehicles used for daily commuting, not for emergency vehicles that might serve an official purpose.

I wonder whether DOT even had a hand in setting this up. There is a sign, "authorized parking only," but for all I know the NYPD just decided to install this lot here themselves.