not a really good picture, as i left my serious flash at home. but here’s a bike cop (they always have great bodies) talking to a radio car cop (who was old and unattractive and obviously annoyed and didn’t talk) that’s right in front of the policy emergency tape, which i’ve been questioning with every cop that has hit 116th street in the last week (far more than we’ve seen in the last year, for some reason). the bike cop tells me that it’s basically not their problem — BUT he does send me in the right direction. the two (TWO!) incorrect signs on 116th Street are the responsibility of the department of transportation. so i just filed a complaint with them. if you would like to add your voice to mine, please click the title of this blog to be directed to their website, which is http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/about/assist.html
here are the issues on the south side of west 116th st. between manhattan & 8th (aka frederick douglass blvd).
1) one indicates a bus stop (southeast corner, and still has a bus shelter where the DOT is renting advertising space) that has been out of operation for more than TWO YEARS. previously there was a garbage bag placed over the bus stop sign. it must have fallen off.
2) one indicates (southwest corner) a “construction in progress” sign for a building project that was completed more than 6 months ago. people are getting tickets for NO REASON and it is not fair. no garbage bag ever placed there.
(note to self: maybe all i need to fix this is a tall ladder and some garbage bags?)
i asked the DOT to address these problems. i followed procedure, though without much hope.
please add your complaints to mine if you feel this is worthy of attention.
their original, low-tech but effective, way to obliterate the bus stop was to cover the bus stop sign with a lawn-leaf garbage bag. now there’s police emergency tape there, which sends an entirely different message, and still doesn’t make it clear that this is no longer, and has not been for quite some time, a bus stop. the bus stop itself is now on the north side of 8th avenue. this is because manhattan avenue, for reasons never explained, was changed from a two-way to a one-way southbound street from 110th street on up. so the old bus route changed. the old bus shelter remains. there is NO bus shelter at the new official bus stop, but the DOT is clearly still making money from the old one, which is now nothing more than an advertising kiosk, since the ads change from time to time. (from guinness to heineken, last i checked).
you know what? this would NOT happen in midtown, or on the newly prosperous lower east side. why is it OK to have the residents of harlem — regardless of color, this is not a racist issue, you can’t tell what color the owner of a car is by looking at their car — subjected to this kind of pathetic inaccuracy for such extended periods of time?
mayor bloomberg: despite the fact that i am a democrat, i think you are a good mayor and i voted for you twice and would vote for you again. you’ve done some great things — 311 being the best among them, in my opinion. but, unfortunately, you still haven’t done enough. can we get a little rational attention uptown, please?
Recent Posts:
- Writers’ Holiday Not Giving Campaign Call for Action of No Spending [a guest post]
- why do socks make me so happy?
- a nation awash in corruption
- common sense vs. the law
- what i fucking hate the about the fucking christmas season
{ 0 comments… add one now }
Leave a Comment