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NYC Proposal Offers Cash for Spotting Parking Violations in Bike Lanes

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Re: NYC Proposal Offers Cash for Spotting Parking Violations in Bike Lanes

#22
I find this proposal problematic. There is a world of difference between reporting on a violation in your community because you're a concerned citizen, and directly incentivizing citizens to report on each other.

I'm sure you can find some small counter examples, but by and large the US has never had a history of augmenting law enforcement by way of private citizens. We are not a country of snitches.

Re: NYC Proposal Offers Cash for Spotting Parking Violations in Bike Lanes

#23
post #8

Reducing the issuance of placards won't solve anything if parking isn't enforced. The governing class (NYPD, FDNY, city government workers) in NYC starts their day by driving in and parking wherever they please knowing full well that they won't be held to the same laws that citizens are supposed to be. Many workers even deface or remove license plates so they can't be ticketed by automated cameras. I would love citiz…

Not just that, but people who make a habit of reporting illegally parked cars frequently find themselves being harassed and threatened by anonymous people who have their phone number [0].

[0] https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2022/02/09/death-threats-follow-...

Re: NYC Proposal Offers Cash for Spotting Parking Violations in Bike Lanes

#24
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Highly dense neighborhoods will invariably have cars, and especially delivery vehicles, double parking all over because density always implies shortage of space; bike lanes are in now way special in this context, unless you're suburban transplant with a newfound IMACYCLISTNOW identity.

Are you suggesting that because cyclists are annoying, parking ordinances and laws should be ignored?

No post body was provided.

Re: NYC Proposal Offers Cash for Spotting Parking Violations in Bike Lanes

#25

I lived around the corner from Midtown North police precinct and the Midtown Community Court next to it. My whole block was no parking. There is no streetsweeping on the block. It's set up that way so that NYPD and court officials have somewhere to park their personal vehicles. This even though they have a whole gated garage that takes up 1/3 of the block. Instead, for the last (at least) 40 years, the parking scheme…

100% - it does feel like a massive grift. Also, there are so many useless blocks in this city, especially outside of manhattan where there might be a dense population that has cars, but they're limited to parallel parking, when in fact there's plenty of room to have angled parking if you allow the cars to park halfway on the sidewalk. This is how it's done in many European cities, and even with their sidewalks that are actually 2x narrower than ours, there's plenty of room for cars and for pedestrians. NYC should zone a bunch of these useless extra wide sidewalks that no one needs for angled parking and just solve the problem over night.

Re: NYC Proposal Offers Cash for Spotting Parking Violations in Bike Lanes

#27

Quoted post unavailable.

People tend not to react to parking violations by taking the law in their own hands with capricious, violent aggression because in general, Americans tend to be civil and respect the rule of law. Less so in NYC, but still broadly true.

You mean "moreso in NYC", right, as NYC is 59th out of the largest 100 cities when ranked by descending violent crime rate.

Re: NYC Proposal Offers Cash for Spotting Parking Violations in Bike Lanes

#30

I find this proposal problematic. There is a world of difference between reporting on a violation in your community because you're a concerned citizen, and directly incentivizing citizens to report on each other. I'm sure you can find some small counter examples, but by and large the US has never had a history of augmenting law enforcement by way of private citizens. We are not a country of snitches.

> I'm sure you can find some small counter examples, but by and large the US has never had a history of augmenting law enforcement by way of private citizens. We are not a country of snitches.

Well not a small counter example, but a very large organization with origins in the KKK. [0]

In fact, snitching on fellow Americans has become so common we created an internet meme when, specifically, white women of a certain social class do it. [1]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens%27_Councils

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_(slang)

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