Dear Editor:
Can someone in city hall tell us where we can legally park? Recently, I parked a foot behind a white line painted on the curb, a spot where I had parked many times. When I went to my car the next day, there was a ticket that charged me $54.00 for IMPROPER PARKING WITHIN 25 FT OF CROSSWALK. What! Convinced there was a mistake, I took the ticket to city hall, only to be told that the white line meant nothing – 25 feet from the crosswalk was the rule. But, I protested, it was only a few months ago that the city, with fanfare, had painted the white lines indicating where drivers could safely park! The clerk only repeated what she had said, then shrugged and turned away.
Filled with…well, let’s say indignation, I measured the distance from the white line to the (newly-painted) crosswalk: 22 1/2 feet. Since my car had been parked a foot behind the white line, some ticket-happy cop (do they have quotas to fill?) had written me a ticket for being only a foot and a half in violation of the new 25 ft. rule. It’s to keep this officious officer in business that I pay my enormous property taxes every quarter. In the Aug. 15 Reporter, Ray Smith writes (in an article on Hoboken’s finances), “the city has increased its surplus by around 6.4 million over the past year, most of which comes from the courts (tickets), more taxes collected, and other…revenues.” Tickets! 6.4 million! In the same issue of the Reporter was the controversial impending layoff of 18 police officers. Controversial? Why only 18?
“Rhoda Parker”