Dear Editor:
After living in Hoboken for a year, I’ve become very fond of my new home and plan to live out my life here. In the course of a year, I’ve noticed a few things. One is that the parking problem that all are fond of complaining about is real, but could be diminished some if people would only park more “friendly.” Specifically, I am constantly amazed at the number of spaces that get eaten up by people taking up two spaces when they park. I have lots of theories to explain this phenomenon, from bad parking skills to fear that someone will hit your bumper while squeezing in behind or in front of your new car (but what are bumpers for?) to sheer oblivion to some primal unwritten law that you need to park exactly in front of your own house. But all my theorizing aside, if when you park you think of the next person to come along, lots more spaces would-be available and parkers’ frustration level greatly diminished.
Then there are the parking mysteries. There are places (the east side of Park Avenue, just south of 14th Street, Frank Sinatra Drive) where people park with apparent impunity despite the No Stopping, No Standing signs. Other places, 12th Street east of Hudson, with the newly painted yellow curb, the same signs seem to mean what they say. How does one know, short of the $25 parking ticket lesson? The same goes for how close to the corner is too close.
Then there is double parking, but I don’t expect anyone to explain the arcane rules that govern this practice to a rank newcomer like myself.
Philip Bennett