absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
make religion illegal

destroy holiday shopping
KILL the world economy

absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
NO religious holidays

will ever be observed
the economy must shrink
.

bah humbug! i'd rather be a grinch in that regard! besides, doesn't so much of this holiday nonense contribute to global warming with all the excess lighting, production, packaging (wrapping too), etc?

sheesh.

BTW, i and some others were not advocating getting rid of tree sales altogether!! we merely want the business moved off the sidewalk. however, since you bring it up, getting rid of christmas sales is not an entirely bad idea actually.

the tree seller organizers/head honchos (the few of them it appears) are total crooks who care NOTHING about the local community! farmer's markets are a completely different thing! also their trucks are among the biggest hogs and most reckless drivers on the streets! i have had more than one close call with 'em on my bike.

the village voice recently featured an article on the shady dealings of the tree sellers. unfortunately, i cannot find a link.

My question is:

Are you really the DOT commissioner?
If so, how do you do!

Rather than just moving the tree vendors a few feet off the curb in crowded areas we will take your suggestion and implement tens of millions of dollars worth of sidewalk expansions and capital projects before next Christmas.

Questions:

1. Even if the tree vendors were moved over a few feet, wouldn't you still be walking between the banks of balsam firs just with, you know, more space to walk?

2. How would moving the trees over a few feet change increase the number of tree shoppers "driving who knows where?" If anything, it seems you'd have less driving because you'd have less parking space.

3. If the tree vendors were occupying parking space rather than sidewalk space why would they suddenly not be "an extension of farmers markets" and supporting local ag?

If anything, giving the vendors street space would be an expansion of local farmers markets and an expression of even more support for trees and vendors and whatnot.

Also, don't discount the fact that everyone who buys a tree off the sidewalk is one less person driving who knows where.

It least no one is strenuously objecting to Christmas Trees yet. Where secular progressives try to stop Christmas in little phony ways, Sharia would totally stamp it out...

absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
don't mention Christmas

keep it out of the schools
some religions are OK

.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
punish small children

for celebrating Christmas
hide liberalism's roots

.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe hates
hearing MERRY HOLIDAYS

possibly the atheists have doubts
about their lack of faith

.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
vilify Christians

they are not all terrorists
but most terrorists are them

.
http://haltterrorism.com/
.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43954081@N00/2071897289/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43954081@N00/2071897281/in/photostream/

#4, often the sidewalks are so choked with commercial activity that the pedestrians end up in the street, where they face enhanced danger from the holiday traffic. There are loads of people unused to New York City and enraged by the stop-and-go traffic that seem completely oblivious to the danger that a sudden acceleration, lane change, or throwing open of the door without looking pose to others. The stunts pulled by cab drivers and would-be fares (drag races between cabbies to get to fares, triple parking, embarking/disembarking in the middle lane of a 5-lane avenue) add to the danger. I'm very grateful to the new DoT for refusing to extend the traffic hours in Central Park this year, but the situation on the grid is horrible and it is encouraged by the policy of giving vendors space from the sidewalks, plazas and parks rather than from the roadway. The vendors are professionals, they can bear the burden of taking the steps necessary to keep themselves safe in the parking lane more easily than the rest of us who must venture out into the roadway without protection unless we have time to shuffle through the throngs of bovine tourists clogging the sidewalks pinchpoints.

It's the principle of the thing.

"We must maximize the throughput and storage of motorized vehicles regardless of the consequences. Pedestrians? Let them deal with the clutter. If they were worth anything they'd be in a car anyway."

and christams trees are only two weeks of the year!
what about mile high piles of garbage on sidewalk? In Europe , there are mini parking spots in front of building reserved for garbage .
This gives back the full sidewalk to pedestrians, and makes the pickup of garbage more efficient since the garbage is regrouped in piles and the sanitation employees have less stops and less distance to go.
The containers are standardized in plastic cans ( quieter) on wheels ( easier to move)which makes it faster to load and unload.

If this policy was adopted , we would immediatley increase pedestrian space by 30%, not to mention reduction in nauseating encounters by 100% .