Comments on: A Few Minutes of Parking Permit Abuse With Andy Rooney http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/09/04/a-few-minutes-of-parking-permit-abuse-with-andy-rooney/ Covering the New York City Streets Renaissance Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:07:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Alex Marshall http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/09/04/a-few-minutes-of-parking-permit-abuse-with-andy-rooney/comment-page-1/#comment-36610 Alex Marshall Wed, 05 Sep 2007 18:24:07 +0000 http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/09/04/a-few-minutes-of-parking-permit-abuse-with-andy-rooney/#comment-36610 As someone who has been a working reporter, I'm apalled and offended that Andy Rooney would game the system like that. Passes like that are meant for reporters covering fires and the like, not for commentators who sit in their chairs and speak to cameras, even if they are 88 years old and might not like walking far. In fairness to Mr. Rooney, I remember when he spoke to our class at Columbia Journalism School in 1988, after being introduced by the late Fred Friendly, former head of CBS News. Friendly described how Rooney crawled through the mud under fire during battles during World War II, hauling his portable manual typewriter the whole time. I had new respect for the man, who was old even then. But that still doesn't excuse parking today outside a fire hydrant. As someone who has been a working reporter, I’m apalled and offended that Andy Rooney would game the system like that. Passes like that are meant for reporters covering fires and the like, not for commentators who sit in their chairs and speak to cameras, even if they are 88 years old and might not like walking far.

In fairness to Mr. Rooney, I remember when he spoke to our class at Columbia Journalism School in 1988, after being introduced by the late Fred Friendly, former head of CBS News. Friendly described how Rooney crawled through the mud under fire during battles during World War II, hauling his portable manual typewriter the whole time. I had new respect for the man, who was old even then.

But that still doesn’t excuse parking today outside a fire hydrant.

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