Here at Metro, we have a dedicated section in our print edition called The Grumble that acts as a sounding board for our readers to submit things that truly bother them in their cities. Recently, we asked out readers to send in some issues that they are seeing on a daily basis that they would like us to help us with. Over the weekend we received one of these Grumbles from one of our New York City readers named John Dziedzic about cars and buses parking in crosswalks. His email read:
“As someone who has to cross a total of 12 streets on my way to work, something that absolutely burns me up is not the Sun, but rather, inconsiderate drivers who feel the need to stop directly in the crosswalk. I see cars and SUVs doing this all the time, but the worst offenders are, by far, MTA buses, which not only block two to three times the width of the crosswalk, but also make it impossible to see the crossing signals. Why should I have to walk out into the middle of a four-way intersection because these drivers lack basic human decency?”
[Photo Credit: Getty Images]
Solving your Grumbles: Parking in Crosswalks
Well John, we made some calls and got down to the bottom of this issue for your today. I called the New York City Department of Traffic (DOT) today and spoke with a representative named Genesis who informed me that all “non-emergency vehicles” that are double parked — which would be the case if they are blocking the crosswalk — are in violation of New York City travel rules and will be issued tickets if they are caught. If you keep seeing repeat offenders parking in crosswalks along your route, you should call 311 and someone from the city will look into this matter. For a full list of traffic rules in New York City, visit nyc.gov/dot/trafrule.
