CB1 Calls on Police to End Illegal Parking

 by Barry Owens


Beneath a stretch of the Brooklyn Bridge along Frankfort Street, a sidewalk has given way to an illegal parking lot. On this block, between Pearl and Gold Streets, it is not uncommon to see a driver back neatly into a space directly below a "No Parking On The Sidewalk" sign.

Illegally parked police vehicles often block this bus stop on Frankfort Street. Photo: Allan Tannenbaum

The most frequent violators are Police Department personnel, who routinely hop the curb, slap a parking permit on the dashboard and report for duty at nearby Police Headquarters. One vehicle, a black BMW with an NYPD parking placard, has been sitting there so long that it has gone gray with dust and pigeon droppings.


"Disgusting," said Emily Barbieri. She was standing across the street, waiting for the M22 bus between car bumpers in another row of illegally parked vehicles, all of them sporting police parking permits. When a bus came into view, she stepped farther into traffic and flagged it down.

"A lot of times you can't get the bus to stop here unless you stand out there and wave it down. Ridiculous," she said. "Lucky you don't get killed."

Illegally parked city vehicles and private cars with parking permits have been a long-simmering frustration

for Downtown residents, particularly those who live close to the Civic Center and Police Headquarters. Last month, the Seaport/Civic Center Committee of Community Board 1 called in NYPD representatives to answer for the apparent abuse of their department's parking privileges. Board members presented them with more than a dozen photos showing parking violations, including cars parked on traffic islands, on sidewalks and in bus stops.

No promises were made at the Jan. 4 meeting, but Community Board 1 District Manager Paul Goldstein said any effort by the police to curb the illegal parking would be an improvement.

"We are not trying to have a total miracle here, but we would like to see some courtesy extended to the people who live in the neighborhood," said Goldstein, who was particularly galled that police would park in a bus stop.

"We succeeded in getting the M15 bus stop back for the residents of Southbridge, and, lo and behold, it constantly has police cars in it," he said.

Eugene Jacobs, a supervisor in the Police Department's traffic enforcement division for Lower Manhattan, said he had passed the concerns voiced at the meeting to his superiors and was awaiting his marching orders.

"We work according to our instructions," Jacobs said. "It is a matter that is in the hands of the authorities. As soon as we get a directive, we will enforce it."

During a 1st Precinct Community Council meeting on Jan. 29, Lt. Robert Christie told a group at Southbridge Towers that singling out legitimate parking violations by police personnel was a "complicated matter." He said that the cars parked along Frankfort Street and on surrounding blocks are often driven by police personnel from other precincts who have come to Police Headquarters on "official business."

"Official business? I don't care if you are the mayor, the governor or the president of the United States," said John Quinn, who sits on the board of directors for Southbridge Towers. "Don't park in our bus stop."

Though the history of arguments between city agencies and the board concerning illegal parking in the area is a long one, board member Victor Papa, who is a Southbridge Towers resident, said he was confident that something would be done this time.

"But I suspect we'll be having this discussion again in about three years," he said.