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Is A Bus Stop Only A Bus Stop If A Bus Stops There?
By
Jaya Saxena
Published Jul 7, 2010
Modified Jul 7, 2010
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By
Jaya Saxena
Published Jul 7, 2010
Modified Jul 7, 2010
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That's the question Cliff Schuster asked himself before he parked at a Q75 stop in Queens. The Q75 stop was one of 570 now out of service because of MTA service cuts, and was marked with a sign saying it was "no longer a bus stop." But that didn't stop a ticket agent from fining him $115 for parking there.
Schuster attempted to fight the ticket in court, telling the judge"I'm not a scofflaw." The court offered to reduce the ticket to $99, but Schuster refused to pay, and has 30 days to appeal the decision. The judge also ordered the MTA to cover or take down the bus signs, but until that happens, there seems to be come confusion about parking rules.
The NYPD told the Wall Street Journal that as long as the stop is still standing, it is illegal to park in front of it. However, they are instructing "traffic enforcement agents not to issue summonses to vehicles parked in bus stops where MTA signs indicate they are no longer being used as such." The city's Finance Department said it would dismiss all tickets issued for parking at a discontinued stop, but the recipients must contest the ticket first.
Those stuck circling the block to find parking spaces aren't happy about the tickets. Max Perlstein noticed some of his neighbors getting ticketed in front of discontinued stops in Borough Park, and called it "idiotic." "The sign says it is no longer a bus stop—how in the world can the city say it is a bus stop?" Councilman David Greenfield also received his fair share of complaints, and wrote the DOT and NYPD, "It's bad enough that the MTA has given our community the short-shrift by taking away a vital bus route, but it adds insult to the injury that traffic enforcement agents are issuing tickets at those affected bus stops." Sorry, insult to injury is kind of the MTA's M.O.
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bus stops
MTA
mta service cuts
parking ticket
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Jaya Saxena
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