We suspected selective enforcement when PSD lazily put up barriers in front of a single fire hydrant on Main Street. Was it just knuckle-headed or something worse?
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
Selective Enforcement?
When PSD Chief Kevin Brown was confronted over an ungainly barrier set up in front of Bread & Butter Deli, he admitted that he set it up to prevent parking in front of the fire hydrant.
That’s right. RIOC’s top executive in charge of safety figured that a permanent barrier in front of a fire hydrant was better than an occasional car parking there.
Then, just in case, Brown made the barrier even bigger.
Fact Checking PSD Claims
First, let’s all concede that this is stupid right outa the gate. After all, one thing PSD does really well is write out parking tickets. Why cut off revenue that might cover RIOC’s bloated payroll?
And how does this help anyway, replacing temporary violations with a 24/7 one?
That’s why we wondered about targeting. Does PSD have bug up its butt over something about the popular deli, Main Street’s longest standing business? Bread & Butter Deli is Muslim-owned and managed. Is that a factor in the targeting?
One good way of finding out how selective this is involves checking how other fire hydrants are “protected” in the canyon. Compare like for like. Here is what we found:
At the nearest fire hydrant outside Good Shepherd Plaza, no barrier was found. But a marked RIOC vehicle was illegally parked without interference from Chief Brown’s intrepid enforcers.
And it wasn’t alone.
A private vehicle, not ticketed, joined in the privilege.
Is it selective enforcement, targeted?
That seems clear, but what’s not clear is an honest explanation of why?
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Who Does This?
At the June 18 meeting of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation’s Real Estate Development Advisory Committee, President and Chief Executive Officer B.J. Jones acknowledged that there had been no progress finding a tenant for the long-discussed medical space on Main Street. Hudson/Related Realty LLC had told him that filling the space, along with other vacant storefronts, was proving more difficult than expected.
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