Tuesday’s Headlines: Justice For Scofflaw Drivers Edition

Today’s edition of “Do We Live in a Society Or What?” comes live from the offices of Community Board 11 in Upper Manhattan. Tonight, the board’s executive committee is considering backing a bill by state Sen. Cordell Cleare (D-Manhattan) to exempt drivers from automated enforcement tickets if they park in the new bus lane on 116th Street.

Wait, you think I’m making this up? This is the text of Cleare’s bill, which reads more like a press release from a person who does the exact thing from which she wants to be exempt from accountability:

Experience shows us that certain streets in New York City are more appropriate than others for the use of new technology represented by bus lane and bus operation-related photo enforcement programs. 116th Street has a concentration of houses of worship and other important community facilities that are in constant use for worship, education, social services, healthcare, weddings, funerals and the like. Cars are picking up and dropping off people, often older New Yorkers, and the camera-mounted on a bus cannot tell if a person has double-parked for 30 seconds or three days. People are being unfairly treated and the system is not set up for people to successfully contest these “notices of violation.” There has to be a rational middle ground that recognizes what a camera captures does not tell the whole story. This middle ground used to be called “parking enforcement” and it was undertaken by civil servants. We can have safe streets and rational enforcement at the same time.

So, a few things:

• “Experience shows us…”? Indeed it does, namely, that drivers park in bus lanes whenever they know they won’t get caught.
• Yes, 116th Street has lots of diverse commercial and social uses … as does virtually very commercial street in town.
• There is nothing unfair about receiving a parking ticket when you commit a parking offense.
• Bus-lane cameras only issue a ticket if a double-parked car is snapped by two consecutive buses, so Cleare’s excuse (“I only parked illegally for 30 seconds!”) does not apply. Those cameras need consecutive passes before issuing a ticket offense.

At Streetsblog, we always say, “We’ve seen everything!” — and in this case, we’re right: Last year, normally normal state Sen. Jamaal Bailey (D-Bronx) put up a bill that would have exempted all of Co-op City from bus lane enforcement cameras. And it went all the way through both houses before Gov. Hochul, mercifully, vetoed it, saying, “Carveouts of automated camera enforcement would hinder bus and paratransit riders.”

To her credit, Cleare called me back to defend her bill, primarily by saying that construction of the Second Avenue has “impacted mom and pop stores who can’t afford to lose customers.”

I suggested that customers don’t need to park illegally to shop at local stores, but Cleare again defended illegal parking for pickup and drop-offs. “Camera tickets are a deterrent to people stopping [to shop],” she said. “You’re chasing customers away.”

She also pointed out that there are lots of houses of worship and funeral homes in the area. “This is pay to pray,” she said, ignoring the possibility that the faithful could find legal parking.

Interestingly, Cleare said she sometimes takes the bus, so I asked her why she is championing the needs of a few car owners over tens of thousands of daily riders.

“Perhaps we do that [help bus riders], but we need a compromise for people who worship and shop in this community,” she said, ignoring the fact that bus riders also worship and shop in that community.

Or, as MTA spokesperson Aaron Donovan put it more succinctly, “The MTA opposes slowing down buses and making them less accessible due to blocked stops.”

Fortunately, bus riders have more friends than just the MTA; the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, which has opposed bills like this in the past, is pushing back on Cleare’s bill, too.

“New York City bus riders deserve dedicated lanes and stops that are free of double-parked cars, trucks, and other obstructions,” Associate Director Brian Fritsch told Streetsblog. “Automated camera enforcement has delivered on this promise by increasing bus speeds by 5 percent and reducing collisions by 20 percent. Irresponsible bills that exempt specific streets or neighborhoods set a dangerous precedent; once you grant one exemption, everyone will ask for one, no matter how flimsy the rationale.”

He pointed out that the M116 bus moves at an average of 5.6 mph — one of the slowest and least reliable buses in the city — evidence that the 65,000 daily bus riders on that corridor need more enforcement, not less. One bus rider reached out preemptively to me to get the word out.

“We’re finally getting a faster bus and safety improvements and can’t believe the Senate and our community board want to stop this progress!” Joseph Rienti emailed me. “Can you help?”

Help? No, I’m just a humble self-important journalist, but I can get the word out. So here goes: The meeting is tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the board’s office (1664 Park Ave. between 117th and 118th streets) or via Zoom. Click here to register.

In other news from a pretty slow day:

• Speaking of bad drivers who enrage us, here’s an Assembly candidate who understands what pedestrians are dealing with:

• A car driver smashed through a fence at one of the busiest subway stations in town. (West Side Rag)
• Save the chin-up bars of Tompkins Square Park! (NY Times)
• The Queens bus redesign is working, at least for bus speeds. (amNY)
• The Department of Transportation is soliciting feedback on four new greenway routes. (amNY)
• The Post is fanning flames about an expected shortfall in the MTA’s operating budget by, of course, venting about congestion pricing.
• Wow, the MTA’s “review” of its misbehaving EAGLE bus fare enforcement team was fast — too fast. (NYDN)
• The elevator at the Yankee Stadium station is having a Met-like episode. (NY Post)