From The New York Shitty Inbox: A Question About Obstructed Sidewalks

A person we’ll call “N” writes:

Hi Heather,

I’ve been walking down Ash Street for the past 3 years. NYCHA has gotten increasing worse at parking their vehicles on the sidewalk prohibiting pedestrians from using it on their way to the stairs on the Brooklyn side of the Pulaski Bridge. It has gotten so bad that they now park vehicles on sidewalks on both sides of the street causing pedestrians to walk in the street.

I have attached some photos from this morning. They even pushed a snow plow blade’s furrow of snow into the sidewalk making passing on the sidewalk even less possible.

I will continue to take pictures of this as it happens. I have tried contacting NYCHA and 311 about this but have noticed no changes. Do you have any suggestions for me as far as who to contact to get this issue noticed?

After a little “back and forth” I have learned that “N” has not only been diligently lodging complaints, but he/she has been recording the complaint numbers as issued by 311. Great! What “N” has not done is forward these complaint numbers along with a general description of the problem, “timeline” and any/all photos to our local Community Board for follow-up! I have said it before and I’ll say it again:

Documentation and persistence is how problems get addressed!

You know the adage about the “squeaky wheel”? Endeavor to persevere, “N”!