loving seem
parking sensor

Let's say you're a teacher, you live across the street from a school... should you have to teach there ? Now, if you were lived deep in Queens and was offered a job at Stuy.... would you take it ? I mean, you didn't go to school to just teach anywhere. So, let's say you now work in the city, let's get you an apartment now... something with a view of the east river....and also a pair of new balance sneakers, and a shiny gold metrocard.... there's the answer ...

I guess the logical thing to do is exactly what you said, but who can afford to do that ? Besides, when did it become open season on DOE employees ? In my neighborhood, police park their personal cars in fire hydrants, No standing zones... which sometimes block the view of cross traffic, so I have to move in closer to the intersection in order to see if a car is coming....

Now, I don't know where any of you are from, or what type of job you have... But, I find it hard to believe that teachers, in any state or country, should have to put themselves in a position that makes their already hard-to-do job harder... Doesn't anyone care ? Or is it a matter of jealousy ?

Look at the MTA with their new fair increase, and proposed service cuts, etc... Now, I won't totally write them off as useless... But, not everyone wants to ride with hundreds of people on a train first thing in the morning before work, and after a trying day....

I guess a question that would probably shed some light on how everyone here feels is; which city or state agency should be allowed to have parking permits ? This way, we could know where everybody is coming from... All of you cops could come out of hiding, fdny, etc...

In order to get anywhere in life, you have to go to school and get those degrees.... Maybe we'll let all of the good teachers who drive to work move away and get jobs elsewhere... and maybe their train and bus taking buddies who have a conscience would follow them. I have no intention of making this city anymore money off of me than I already am. And for the job that teachers and other school staff do, I think that parking in front of a school is the smallest gift they could give.... btw... Private school teachers deserve better... are you going to suggest that they get better jobs while you're at it ?

As for paying for my parking, I think I already am... it's called TAX... Now, just because you might pay the same amount of taxes that I do, that doesn't change the fact that you chose to be what you wanted to be, and I did too.... So, why bother comparing ? And for this being NYC and most people don't even have a car... how come we're fighting over parking space then ? Who do those other cars belong to ? And why should the city give the MTA money ? The MTA is not a city agency... They had their own guys strike 2 years ago... and even sued them... Saying that they couldn't strike... What kind of job backs you into a wall and tells you " don't bother to disagree with our policies... you can't strike... so shut up and go to work " ?

I feel sorry for any employee being treated unfairly private or public... Why is it that people who don't have parking placards hate the fact that they don't have one ? It's not a big deal, if the streets go fully public, that's fine. I'm sure that the city will love to recruit more traffic agents to give more tickets out for alternate side parking.... whether or not you took the train to work and left your car on your block....

One of the funny things about this is that some people claim to have seen DOE employees parked where they shouldn't be and not get ticketed... I would like to know how that happened... especially since about 75% of all the city's tickets are BS. The problem is that working people lose the amount they'd have to pay in order to fight a ticket that they might still have to pay anyway... So, why bother ? With that in mind, what's to stop a traffic agent from putting a ticket on anyone's car ? And then their response be " well, you could fight it and they'll reduce it"

But, I don't want to be here all day rambling... But, if you live in the city, then yes.... why even have a car ? If you never learned to drive, then yes.... why have a car ?.... If the highlight of your day is being on the train.... then yes, by all means.... take the train... But, no matter what you say.... you can't tell every single person that gets into their car everyday to take the train...

If pollution is your issue, I don't think that parking placards in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island are going to matter much.... Now, if I worked in Manhattan and had a car, I probably wouldn't drive there..... But, that's why I don't work in Manhattan... So, don't be mad at me for having a choice.... Yes, I could take the bus... But, I don't want to... I don't have to.... And yes, permits could become a thing of the past.... But, so could the reputation of this city... Especially since a fellow NY'er can't even side with someone because since they can't do something, why should you ?....Everything starts from somewhere... even the littlest thing could trigger it....

Lastly... again... unless you know what's it's like... especially to teach in a public school, schools where metal detectors are used, you won't think that the 25,000 dollars you speak of is worth it...But, some teachers do their jobs because they love it... and they care about those kids...

It was nice talking here. But, if you're going to respond, stick to the issue... I don't really feel like E-arguing....or E-debating about this subject anymore.... we could agree to disagree... That's that... I hope we get to keep our placards... and I hope that you stop hoping that we don't.....

I'm going to address some of your points one-by-one.

Maybe some of you don't have to take your children to day care, or to school, and maybe run into traffic or are running late and need to park somewhere in a hurry.

I would argue that most of us don't, seeing as how this is New York City and most people don't even have a car.

How can a teacher do that when people who live in the neighborhood who probably don't even work are taking up the only possibility of a parking space.....?

Sorry, you're going to need to explain why our hypothetical teacher is more deserving of the parking space than anyone else who would want to use it.

But, there are thousands of people who are parked where they shouldn't be on a daily basis without permits. It's not like being a law enforcement official, where you can pretty much park anywhere and NOT be ticketed by your fellow law enforcement officials.

You can visit for an inventory of counterexamples. Regular people get ticketed for parking illegally, public employees don't. And yes, that includes DOE.

Maybe after a kidnapping, or a subway raping of some sorts, will someone finally see the importance of having something as small as a parking permit to help teachers park near their workplace.

Wait, isn't this an issue for anyone in New York with kids? And yet most people who aren't teachers seem to manage quite nicely without their kids getting kidnapped or raped. Right?

I would think that if I continued to ask someone for more and am suddenly getting less, "deeply troubling" would come to mind as well.

Public school teachers in NYC make more than their private-school counterparts, and that's before you throw in the benefits, health care, unheard-of pension plan, etc. NYC spends some $250,000 per year per teacher on salary and retirement benefits. In that context, asking "for more" looks pretty unreasonable to me.

What is the plan for teachers who can't make it on time because they were out trying to find a parking spot because they worked in the Bronx and lived in Brooklyn, and perhaps their babysitter lives in Queens and there was traffic on the tri-boro ?

I think the plan is that those teachers should reorganize their life. Why should you live in Brooklyn if you work in the Bronx? Why couldn't you find a babysitter from the neighborhood? Again, people who don't work for the government choose to live in places that make for a decent commute. Why is it unreasonable to expect teachers to do the same?

Sure, let me keep giving the MTA my money, so they could keep raising the fairs on me, knowing that I have no choice but to use them

You do realize that the subway is still the cheapest way to get around town, right? And that roads are highly subsidized while the city gives the MTA nary a cent? Right?

because I can't use the car that I bought because the mayor and his infinite wisdom came up with a plan to take away perhaps the ONLY thing that made my job a LITTLE easier

Nobody is saying you can't use you car, we're just saying you should have to pay for it. Parking is expensive, but you're welcome to buy a garage space. Why should the taxpayer cover it?

Unless any of you have problems like these, you won't know ( or care ) what people like us go through.

I don't have problems like these because I live in a neighborhood with nearby schools and an easy subway trip to work. These are choices; I wouldn't take a job in Westchester because it's too far away. These are the trade offs that real people who are not members of the placard elite face every day.

Unless any of you have problems like these, you won't know ( or care ) what people like us go through.

No, I didn't lock myself into an unsustainable lifestyle that requires the city taxpayers to subsidize it by providing free space to store my personal vehicle.

Instead, I walk my child to school (before that it was daycare), and then walk or take the train to work. No problem.

Please do us all a favor and reorganize your life so that you don't need to go everywhere by car. This is New York City - it ain't hard. If you really want to live in Charlotte, move to Charlotte.

There are lots of people with important jobs who are not recognized in the city. Why should teachers be any different? Would you feel differently about this issue if you were offered the choice of $300 cash per month or a placard for free? Essentially that's what's on the table, since you can still drive if you pay for parking.

Cheers,

--Ian Turner

I'm not saying teachers are wealthy, but they're probably a lot better off than the people they crowded off that sidewalk in Harlem.

I know what I'm going to say the next time the city proposes a policy that would end some subsidy to me: it's all a plot by Bloomberg to run the middle class out of town so his wealthy friends can have it!

n the Uncivilservants site, I have confronted the defenders of such "courtesy" with the question of whether they show their badge or placard when going to movies or an amusement park with their family, in order to cut to the front of the line. They never respond. Of course they don't do that, because everyone recognizes that it would be uncivil to do so. The only reason there is a different view as the illegal parking is because it is a little less visible, and it has been going on for so long people turn a blind eye to it. But the principle is the same.

These are things that happen, which I agree shouldn't. In my opinion, though much of the outrage at "placard parking" is misdirected. You could eliminate 100% of the "offical business" permits distributed by DOT, and I don't think you'd see much impact on the kind of parking abuse that seems to really bother people -- e.g., what goes on around precints and the courts. The "permits" that underlie these situations are of dubious legality to begin with. The non-enforcement is a consequence of the "cops-don't-write-cops", "cops are people; everyone else is a savage" and "professional courtesy" ethos that dominates the law enforcement world. In my experience and observation, the majority of people who have "real" permits park where they're supposed to, and get tickets where the don't.

As far as my gauge on the willingness of TEA to ticket non-NYPD gov't employees, I can only say it generally doesn't happen on the UES or UWS. I have no idea what goes on elsewhere.

In every precinct, certain people in certain agencies have relationships with supervisors in the precinct. Word gets out -- leave so-and-so's car alone.

"Maybe the TEAs have been so scared by retaliation from within NYPD, that they generally avoid ticketing anyone who looks like any kind of public employee"

I think your perception of the degree to which non-Cops avoid tickets is a bit off, or perhaps skewed by the particular places you're familiar with. Trust me, people in most city agencies get hit with tickets _very_ often.

"traffic enforcement agents who write the summons are so concerned that no government employee be summonsed that they turn a blind eye."