Once again, I am proved right right RIGHT. New York city’s politicos went ahead an overroad the veto of Mayor Bloomberg and reinstituted "free" parking on Sunday. The hue and cry was that the impoverished church goers were being "charged" to go to church since they had to pay to park.
My comment, among others, was that the vast majority of people in the city didn’t use cars to go to church and most people would simply take advantage of free parking to go about their Sunday chores.
Well, read this article about the first "Free" parking Sunday in the Big Apple. I’m sure that intrepid reporter from the New York Times thought she did a great job finding one family heading for mass in Queens and THEN to the museum, and free parking. Note, please, that the driver drove around the area of the museum for 10 minutes, adding to traffic and pollution, before she found a spot. Did anyone ask her if, on previous visits, when she had to pay, she simply pulled into a garage near the museum, paid the appropriate fee, and went about her business?
By the way, note that this woman and her family parked in the church parking lot, not on the street and paid what she normally paid for parking on Sunday, nothing, so the "free" parking rule didn’t affect her churchgoing at all. The church subsidized her parking. Don’t think so?– I wonder how much the land on which that parking lot cost the church, and the lights, paving, clearing of snow in the winter, striping, etc etc etc.
Another driver got a spot in front of his destination, the Church of Staples Office supplies, stating that his "good luck" was due to "Karma" and another looked for half an hour before finding a space three blocks from his destination. And another double parked — after they couldn’t find a space. Gee, wonder if they could find one if they charged enough for on street.
Every one of these is a poster child for charging for parking on Sunday in New York. But my guess is that neither the reporter nor the city council got the point.
Oh, by the way, its going to cost nearly $1 million to replace all the signage and take a year. Plus the city is losing almost $15 million in revenue.
One more bit of proof that charging for on street, and charging enough so about 15% of the spaces are always free, seems to be the right thing to do. Every one of these parkers would have found a place to park almost immediately, or they would have found alternative transportation. Remember NYC has one of the best rapid transit systems in the country.
However politics wins, and the Great City of New York loses, in virtually every way.
JVH
