Blocking the box is not something that just "suddenly" "strands" drivers in the middle of an intersection. It is the result of an intentional, measurable, and antisocial behavior on the part of drivers. As the operator of an automobile, it is very easy and simple to avoid blocking the box regardless of traffic conditions: Just don't enter the crosswalk or the intersection unless there is room on the other side to get across. Applying this one simple rule can avoid all ticket writing, help traffic move faster, and make life more enjoyable for everyone involved. Blocking the box is an antisocial activity that is easy to stop and should rightly be punished.

The funny thing is, (I have seen this three times at various locations) the traffic cops vehicles are parked in the bus/right lane of a two lane street causing a backup in the first place and then the traffic agents start stopping people in the middle of the block (the drivers that were caught in the box) which causes the traffic to back up even more. It was amazing watching them creating the actual backup that causes traffic to stop suddenly and stranding drivers in the middle of the box.

I saw about 30 cars given tickets in a period of 10 min. Every red light, they would stop the traffic in the middle of the block to pull over 3 or four cars, ticket them then stop traffic again to get them back into the moving lane... causing another group of drivers to stuck in the box. rinse and repeat!!!

Its amazing to see how the politicians come up with ways to create revenue riding on the backs of ordinary citizens.

I bet, if one of those 5 officers in the checkpoint decided to direct traffic flow by standing near the box, the traffic would have moved much more smoothly. Guess the city needs to balance the budget somehow...

However, a place where this rule will work the best is the approaches to the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels. As Izzy pointed out in the previous comment, traffic barely moves forward and when so, it's only a matter of inches. I remember when I drove up West Broadway and I was stuck at that street and Broome because Holland Tunnel traffic blocked the street. Luckily, after about 10 minutes, traffic moved a good two feet to allow my street to go. Blocking the Box works at those intersections leading to these tunnels since you rarely have to move if the traffic goes after the light changes. 80% of the time, it doesn't and when it does, it ain't much.

These congestions are out of control. It just boggles my mind that people choose to freaking drive their cars into a city such as this!

Yeah, that is pretty common. Pedestrians are expected to dash out of the way, or wait to cross, so that the important folk in their cars can get out of the way of other important folk in their cars; motorists look at you with the crazy eyes if you do not yield to their advancing bulk. Never mind that such screwed-up intersections (hello, Houston) typically don't leave much time for pedestrian crossing, they expect us to surrender half of that time to them and run around like the house is on fire because cars are being delayed. Meanwhile the whole situation is one motorists have brought upon themselves (individually and collectively), starting with the decision to drive, then to drive that route, and finally to advance into an intersection that may not be clear by the time the light changes.

If there were automated enforcement for box blocking (including the crosswalks, yes) it would work wonders, partly in improving behavior but more so as a shadow congestion charge. The dirty secret of box blocking (and double parking, and bad driving in general) is that everyone does it from time to time, accidentally or on purpose. Given that "better enforcement" was many c.p. opponents' proposed alternative solution to congestion, it would serve them right to automate and let the fines roll in. Unfortunately we found out recently how the Assembly still feels about traffic cameras. It must be a special kind of better enforcement they support, with magical fairy traffic cops that neither collect budget-busting paychecks nor write tickets to upstanding citizens who are only accidentally blocking traffic just this once.

the only realistic enforcement of any traffic laws and deterrent to breaking them must be automated and not subjected to the arbitrary and subjective nature of an officer's opinion on what to enforce and what not to enforce. when there are 10 cars stuck in an intersection, who gets the ticket? it's easier to just wait 10 minutes and forget about it.

you know what else is against the law? parking in bike lanes. but people do it every day and officers rarely enforce it, certainly not enough for the threat of getting a ticket to ever be a realistic deterrent. have you ever seen a "don't honk" sign, with a threat for a major fine, if you get a ticket. have you ever seen it enforced? not me.

the other problem is that one of the reasons why there are so many cars blocking the box is because there isn't enough throughput for all the automobiles - something congestion pricing could have helped with.

This is SO much better than cameras mounted on buses to catch bus-lane violators!!!

Good job!

I agree that blocking the crosswalk should also bring a penalty, but you may be downplaying the risks of box-blocking to pedestrians. Most motorists who get caught in the box are very uptight about it, especially once the traffic with the right of way starts honking at them and cursing them. As soon as there is a chance they will gun it into the crosswalk in order to get out of the intersection, even when there are pedestrians present. Those blocking the crosswalk are also creating a hazard by forcing the pedestrians out into the sreet, but at least they are not stressed out by the other motorists so they tend to drive a little more carefully once they have an opportunity to get out of the crosswalk.

But even in the worst enforcement scenario, more box-blocking summonses will be issued now than before, because, simply and truly, TEAs issue summonses, and cops rarely do.

I'm not criticizing cops here; it's the truth. As Kavanagh pointed out, a cop issuing a summons for this involves having the violator's car AND the cop car stop and stand for a long time (in traffic), getting the driver's license, registration, and proof of insurance, and writing out a ticket. So they don't do it, and I don't blame them much!

politiciancars is right, TEAs don't have to do any of that.

*Expand "the box" so it includes crosswalks!*

And from a practical point of view how would this work? Does a TEA walk into traffic and write out the ticket and put it on the windshild? Does the TEA detain the car for the time it takes to write the ticket? Do they just note license plate numbers from the sidewalk and send a ticket in the mail? And can a driver now go to parking violations court to contest a ticket? Do the hearing officers there know how to adjudicate these ticekts? Lots of questions.

I can't believe NYC actually has to get permission from these corrupt bozos to implement this sort of thing.