By Eric Wolf Schoen
The column this week will have a serious part and a not so serious, what were they thinking, did anyone in City Hall read the legislation before they approved it part. Let’s start off serious.
Yonkers and WESTCHESTER County have too few handicap parking spaces particularly in areas such as Ridge Hill where parking on the streets has been taken over by many OFFICIAL USE ONLY’ signs and ‘15 minutes only for Loading and Unloading’ signs. Handicap parking must be adjacent to stores where people go shopping, not far away in parking lots making it difficult for people with mobility issues to access.
The big problem with handicap parking is people who do not have a handicap parking placard or handicap license plate using the spot. If I have seen it once I have seen it a thousand times on the streets and in the parking lots of Yonkers and WESTCHESTER. The spots cannot be used if you are running into a store quickly to get something. They can’t be used by people waiting to pick up a friend or relative from the supermarket. They can’t be used by the Uber or Lyft driver waiting for their fare. Nor the food delivery man running in to pick up their order.
Handicap spots are only to be used by handicapped persons with plates or placards who would otherwise find it difficult to walk to and from a regular parking place. If a non-handicap driver is in the car, he/she must be sure the handicapped person is safely where they need to be and park in a regular parking place. During Christmas and Chanukah the handicap parking spot is not for those who want a closer place to park.
The placard is to be used by the handicap person it was issued to and not by family members or friends. If someone makes a request for a street parking handicap spot on the street where they live, anyone with a handicap parking placard or license plate can use the spot at all times. The spots are not reserved exclusively for the one who initially requested the spot.
The Yonkers City Council refined the schedule of and types of fines for cars and trucks illegally parked in December. The legal notice was posted in this fine, no pun intended newspaper. For some reason the fine for illegally using a handicap spot on the street was set at $200 and the fine for illegally using a handicap spot off street was set at $100. There is no difference in the violation so why the different fees. And some communities in WESTCHESTER charge $250 in fees or jail time and have severe penalties including loss of license if you do it too often, let’s say 3 or more times in a year.
Yonkers likes to put the dangerous, unfair, light time uncoordinated Red Light Camera fees in full effect collecting $50 plus a $15 surcharge. If the handicapped parking fines are enforced at full strength, the city would make a lot more money. But thereby lies the problem. Who is going to enforce these fines and ticket the vehicles.
Is it the job of the Police? The City Parking agents who ride in their cars giving out tickets? Or as some communities do, have volunteers who take pictures of the illegally parked cars and turn them into the court who sends out a summons signed by a judge.
Remember the goal of handicap parking is to make places more accessible for people who have permanent or temporary disability. The City needs to get their act together in terms of who will be responsible for enforcing the laws.
And now to the not so serious part of the column. The part that leads me to question whether or not someone thoughtfully read the legislation before the Yonkers City Council adopted it. Do you know that it is illegal to be parked on a city highway with a speed over 35 miles per hour for the purpose of selling frozen desserts. The violation comes with a $50 fine.
Maybe years ago Good Humor or Mr. Softee trucks would park on city roads that had speed limits over 35 miles per hour waiting for customers. That hasn’t happened in a long time. Now you see these trucks travel through the streets of Yonkers selling their wares, playing their respective tunes. You might see a truck standing still if they are near a park where some activity is going on. But even that is something set up in advance with the knowledge of city officials and those running the activity.
Some of the other things that are illegal and carry fines? Parking rear to meter on street, $50. Overtime parking, no meter, $50. That harks back to the days when meter maids chalked tires and came back to see who had parked over the time limit posted. Haven’t had that in years. Parked at theater entrance, $50. That harks back to the days when we had theaters on south Broadway and other areas that front to the street. I think the now knocked down Kimball theater long out of business was the last one that would apply to.
Parked without lights, $50. What could that apply to today? Parking opposite a construction site, $50. I could see parking in front of a construction site with signs for No Parking posted but opposite? Wheels not turned to curb on hill, $50. That’s big in San Francisco, and though we have just as steep hills doubt that was ever enforced. Double parked during commuting hours, 7:00 am-10 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. , $100. Why would double parking for commuting hours be different than regular double parking, $90? Tab improperly on a license plate, $70. As a kid I remember my parents putting something on the license plate, but we haven’t done that in years.
This list is just for starters. There are many other things in the legal notice informing the public about the passage of the law that come from another time or era. Did anyone in the Corporation Counsel’s office, on the City Council or the Mayor check to see if any of these fines are outdated?
But for now, let’s work on enforcement of cars parked illegally in handicap parking spaces. You see it throughout Yonkers and Westchester inconveniencing those with disabilities. Yonkers can surely use the money, but let’s not forget why those spaces were created in the first place!
Reach Eric Schoen at thistooisyonkers@aol.com, or friend him on Facebook Eric Schoen…just look for him in the picture with Joan Rivers!
