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Bloomberg Relieves Council Mems of Reserved Parking as NYPD Rants

10:52 AM EDT on August 14, 2008

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Hours after yesterday's Daily News broke the story of four City Council members having designated street parking near their offices, Mayor Bloomberg quashed the perk. Wrote Liz Benjamin on The Daily Politics:

Bloomberg said he talked to DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan after reading about the free spaces in this morning's DN and told her "we've got to have one policy that's reasonable."

Bloomberg said he and Sadik-Khan decided that reserved spaces are"inappropriate" and as a result, "we will just remove those foursigns."

The members in question -- Helen Sears, Al Vann, Helen Foster and David Yassky -- will keep their parking placards. Yet one malcontent over at NYPD Rant somehow interpreted yesterday's developments as another victory for the all-powerful bicycle lobby, and for good measure equated the rollback of government parking privileges with Nazism.

When Transportation Alternatives came for the cops, the City Council sat back on their heels, it didn't affect them. Then they came for teachers, firemen, Sanmen and other city workers. It still didn't affect them, so the City Council ignored them.

Now Transportation Alternatives have come for them, the chickens have come home to roost. So fifty or so aging hippies, counter culture freaks, anarchists and bike junkies have more juice than the mayor, the City Council and the Police Dept!

I think we should outlaw bikes and the people who ride them. Maybe the City Council can work on that instead of cowering in fear.

Photo: DelMundo/New York Daily News

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