Streetfilms: Excuses
11:18 AM EST on February 28, 2008
Streetfilms’ Clarence Eckerson was walking around Manhattan one day last summer feeling what he describes as “a little sympathy for what it must be like to be a ticket writer in this town.” He turned on his ever-present video camera and began shooting illegally parked cars and the variety of placards, badges and hand-scrawled notes left on their dashboards in an attempt to avoid a summons. With City Hall getting ready to reduce official parking placards by 20 percent and reorganize the way parking government parking privileges are managed, this latest Streetfilm is worth a minute of your time.
Aaron Naparstek is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparstek's 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. He was also one of the original cast members of the "War on Cars" podcast. You can find more of his work on his website.
Read More:
More from Streetsblog New York City
‘Predictable’: Manhattan Mom Struck by Driving Scofflaw Wants Known Super Speeders off the Road
Another crash shows how little the political class wants to get reckless drivers off the road.
April 9, 2026
Need To Kill Cross Bronx Widening Plan Is Obvious Amid Slight Pollution Uptick
"We don't want congestion pricing to end, we want to make sure that it doesn't hurt our community. We want congestion relief here as well," said one Bronx advocate.
April 9, 2026
Brooklyn, Manhattan DAs Back Hochul on ‘Stop Super Speeders’
Alvin Bragg and Eric Gonzalez are backing a budget proposal that would stop excessive speeders from endangering communities.
April 9, 2026
Thursday’s Headlines: March (Parking) Madness Trophy Ceremony Edition
Check out what happened when we tried to give Inspector Eric Waldhelm the trophy for cops who disrespect their community. Plus other news.
April 9, 2026
DOT Launches Delivery Worker Training And Puts Apps On Notice
A mandated safety training for delivery workers in New York City is now live, and the DOT wants the apps to take responsibility for safety.
April 8, 2026
Comments Are Temporarily Disabled
Streetsblog is in the process of migrating our commenting system. During this transition, commenting is temporarily unavailable.
Once the migration is complete, you will be able to log back in and will have full access to your comment history. We appreciate your patience and look forward to having you back in the conversation soon.