Comments on: To Thwart Terror Trial Traffic Snarls, Curb Placard Abuse

By: Charles Komanoff

Charles Komanoff — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:53:54 +0000

Thanks Tom. By the way, I later embellished and toughened my piece for the Downtown Express (click here). I think the answer to your question is depressingly simple: there is no political or cultural "space" in which to question NYPD policies done in the name of security and/or deterring "terrorists." Indeed, Julie Menin of Manhattan Community Board 1 was practically ridiculed by Bloomberg for advancing Governors Island as an alternative site. That helped convince opponents of holding the trial in Foley Square to shut up about the "need" for police overkill and concentrate instead on the attendant disruption. The strategy worked, but at the cost of a lost opportunity to discuss the larger issue.

By: Tom Angotti

Tom Angotti — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:01:50 +0000

Good analysis. I’m surprised no one has questioned the NYPD’s tactics as maybe overkill a la Republic Convention, Critical Mass, etc? Why wasn’t NYPD asked for a more community-friendly approach? That could surely involve restricting traffic without reducing mobility for local residents, using other more community-friendly modes of transport…?

By: silver

silver — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:33:07 +0000

No enforcement of placard abuse will happen. Cops don’t arrest cops. Last time that happen, you can watch Serpico for the rest of the story….

By: Howard Shaw

Howard Shaw — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:57:04 +0000

This is a BEAUTIFUL example of “taking your tool to the streets”, in the sense of using BTA to do a useful estimate of a disutility in terms of an equivalent offset with policy implications (i.e., the congestion due to the trial into a reduction in car trips). We need some ideas by which this needed decrease in traffic might be achieved, like raising tolls, paying people to take “away from home” vacations that week, or making a strong public appeal to those who might avoid those areas to do so out of good citizenship or at least to avoid a traffic nightmare.

Keep up the good work!

The Governors’ Island idea sounds terrific. Too bad it seems unlikely.

By: Brian Ketcham

Brian Ketcham — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:38:55 +0000

Great piece Charlie, but placards are just a tiny piece of the problem.

Over the next three years NYCDOT will close the Brooklyn Bridge to WB traffic while they replace ramps and paint the bridge. Most WB traffic will be diverted to the Manhattan Bridge, as much as 5,000 vehicles per hour. As bad as this will be, the City is also planning on tearing up Chatham Square in Chinatown, completing the third water tunnel, and rebuilding Chatham Square in a manner that will further disrupt traffic. I can send you my report that I completed for CB3 last year that confirms all this. It appears the City is ignoring this report and the Chinatown community. This is a disaster in the making–for all of lower Manhattan.

By: Bern Grush

Bern Grush — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:51:24 +0000

Of the $30M loss, can you distinguish the loss to local businesses? If yes, could they not set out a class action suit to recover damages? Would the BTA stand that level of scrutiny?

Right now the $30M loss may be seen as distributed over 30M trips, so no one will complain. If there was a competent suit for $12M brought to the courts on behalf of a rate-payers group, then perhaps someone would.

See what Shoup says about this: http://shoup.bol.ucla.edu/PoliticalCalculus.pdf