A knowledgeable tipster submitted this gem to UncivilServants, the web-based watchdog for government parking abuse in New York City. The yellow Porsche Carrera, above, was spotted parked in front of a fire hydrant on the east side of Seventh Avenue, in Park Slope, Brooklyn, between Sterling Place and St. John's Place at about 7:30 pm on Sunday, July 29. On the dashboard, a Dept. of City Planning placard ensures that the windshield of this little beauty is unlikely ever to have a parking ticket placed upon it. A Patrolmen's Benevolent Association card sits atop the parking placard for good measure.
Parking in front of fire hydrants, it turns out, is a rather minor item on this uncivil servant's rap sheet.
Though she is Brooklyn's one and only representative on the New York City Planning Commission, Williams has been barred from participating in Kings County's most important recent land use processes. Afterthe Brooklyn Paper outed Williams' $1 million investment in Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner's Nets basketball team in August 2004, Williams was forced to recuse herself from any official role in the project. Then in February of this year, Williams was removed from the Gowanus Canal rezoning process afterthe Brooklyn Paper pointed out that she owns land within the area that was to be rezoned. With Dolly Williams on the Planning Commission, Brooklyn has no voice in these important projects.
The Brooklyn Paper reports on the most recent incident:
Questions about a possible conflict of interest emerged after the planning commissioner told acquaintances that she "absolutely" supports the residential redevelopment of the Canal zone. Insiders were quick to point out that Williams's company, A. Williams Construction, is based on Third Avenue near Sackett Street - an area that will be prime real-estate someday.
"She was working the room," said one person who attended the Community Board 6 meeting where Williams "was telling everyone that the area would have to be rezoned. She let everyone believe that was speaking as a commissioner, not a property owner who would make millions of dollars if she could build condos on her land."
Williams was appointed to the City Planning Commission by Brooklyn Borough President and likely Mayoral candidate Marty Markowitz. Of course, Brooklyn Paper has also reported that Dolly is one of Marty's big campaign contributors. She gave the $4,950 maximum.
As the sign says on the BQE, "Welcome to Brooklyn: Like No Other Place in the World!"
AARON NAPARSTEK is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparsteks journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. Naparstek is the author of "Honku: The Zen Antidote for Road Rage" (Villard, 2003), a book of humorous haiku poetry inspired by the endless motorist sociopathy observed from his apartment window. Prior to launching Streetsblog, Naparstek worked as an interactive media producer, pioneering some of the Web's first music web sites, online communities, live webcasts and social networking services. Naparstek is currently in Cambridge with his wife and two young sons where he is enjoying a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. He has a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Naparstek is a co-founder of the Park Slope Neighbors community group and the Grand Army Plaza Coalition. You can find more of his work here: http://www.naparstek.com.
Sixty people died in the first three months of the year, 50 percent more than the first quarter of 2018, which was the safest opening three months of any Vision Zero year.