For many, this federal policy has left them with no reasonable alternative than to purchase a motor vehicle. And (gasp!) some of them get operated on the streets of the City of New York.

Nice of you to join us, Mr. Hillgardner.

Certainly, federal policy has influenced people's decisions. But it's not like local policies have been 100% against the federal ones. Many neighborhoods in Queens and elsewhere are car-dependent because the local residents and their political leaders failed to adequately support transit construction.

In many cases the local politicians actually supported road construction, road widening and other pro-car measures, and in quite a few cases they actively campaigned against transit expansion. Some are currently campaigning against "density," locking in unsustainable suburban lifestyles. I do not feel that the city should be rewarding these people with underpriced parking and lenient rules.

The main thing is that John Liu seems to have an inexhaustible supply of sympathy and concern for motorists. He has been known to occasionally stand up for transit users and pedestrians, but somehow never with the same feeling as he shows for drivers - and much less frequently.

Let me preface my remarks by saying that I do not own a car [...] I had an old style meter rob me of money on Friday.

So was this for a borrowed car, a rental or a Zipcar?

Notwithstanding the foregoing, Congress passed laws in the 1950's authorizing billions of dollars for an interstate highway system and the thirst of Americans for automobiles thereafter exploded. It is the federal government's decision to essentially subsidize the automobile industry by building this massive road system that is the macroeconomic decision driving the purchase of private automobiles. For many, this federal policy has left them with no reasonable alternative than to purchase a motor vehicle. And (gasp!) some of them get operated on the streets of the City of New York.

The folks who pit car owners against pedestrians in the battle for mass transportation funding are blaming the victims. They apparently are ignorant that we are all in this together and trying to get by with the system we have. People who want mass transportation alternatives to the automobile should not be taking things out on drivers who are merely using the tools that Congress has encouraged. They need to deal with Congress - not motorists. As for the person who claims that a majority of persons do not own cars, actually a majority of persons old enough to drive in this country own a car.

John Liu has been a hard-working and diligent council person who, for the most part, has worked to stop the war being waged on motorists by the City. But there is so much more to do. His position that allowing parking at broken meters for the time posted on the parking sign is eminently reasonable and sensible. Assuming that it was a motorist who purposefully broke a meter, the DOT's policy treats every motorist like the criminal who broke the meter. It also is a shifting of the reality that the most common reason why a meter is broken is that it is OVERFILLED WITH COINS. Also, the digital parking meters are notorious for not counting all deposits. I had an old style meter rob me of money on Friday. It is well known by the City that many meters do not properly recognize all coin deposits. There are many rules that are obnoxious to motorists and I am a little tired of all of the supposed mass transit advocates in this City that seem to take joy in every hardship the City chooses to impose on motor vehicle operators that are trying to park the motor vehicles that Congress encouraged them to purchase.

How about this one: For decades the City has knowingly been breaking state law by issuing and filing parking tickets to motorists who drive away before the traffic agent finishes writing the ticket. With the passage of the new "block the box" law which makes blocking the box a parking violation, expect to see a spike in improperly served parking summonses. Meanwhile, the PVB continues to deny to motorists their rights pursuant to city law and the federal and state constitutions to a public trial on a parking ticket. PVB ALJs conduct their tawdry adjudications in a "Star Chamber" atmosphere of privacy. There is much work still to be done.

Here's hoping that the bicyclists and pedestrians of this City can advocate for national changes in transportation priorities and stop taking their frustrations out on those who are economically compelled to make the transportation choice of buying a car and operating it in New York City.

And he's not saying they should be able to park indefinitely, he's saying they should be able to park for as long as it says on the street sign - if you're parked at a functioning meter in a zone that lets you park for two hours, you can (leaving aside enforcement issues) put your money in the meter and park for two hours. If you're at a legal space and the meter doesn't work, why shouldn't you be able to still stay for two hours?

Look, I'm all in favor of enforcement and fining/prosecuting scofflaws, but people who are parked in legal spaces that they're willing to pay for (assuming we're not dealing with people who are either cruising for broken meters or breaking the meters themselves) are just not worth the effort.

So that's why NYC is so uncivilized. It's those darned parking rules!