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Williamspoint Video Du Jour: Slow Down
On April 6, 2009 my buddy down at Brooklyn11211 wrote (in regards to this post):
What is more wacky is why there is a sign for the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel on Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg.
To wit I replied:
It’s your ‘hood, dude— you tell me!
Which brings me to the above bit of signage. It is one of several such signs that some rugged individualist has seen fit to erect on Maspeth Avenue across the street from Cooper Park (which I should add is firmly located in the 11211 zip code). While the provenance of these signs is unknown the people I spoke to on this block agreed that “crazy drivers” deemed them necessary. What I wanted to know is if they work. So I took a leisurely stroll down the block to find out.
I suspect anyone who is reading this post and has the pleasure of interfacing with 311 (it’s a hit or miss affair— some operators are better than others) will agree that filing complaints in this manner seems to be a futile endeavor. This has often been my experience, anyway. But dial them anyway, take down the complaint number and forward it to your community board. Yes, this will entail some work on your part, dear readers, but I suspect we can all agree that one person— much less a child— hit by a speeding car is one too many.
Miss Heather
Comments
2 Comments on Williamspoint Video Du Jour: Slow Down
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Duke87 on
Wed, 8th Apr 2009 6:03 pm
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missheather on
Wed, 8th Apr 2009 7:05 pm
This is New York. Nobody’s going to do something just because a sign tells them to. Especially not if it’s obvious that the signs aren’t official and thus they can’t get a summons for violating them.
What that street could really use which I notice it didn’t seem to have is a crosswalk or two.
What you seem to have missed here is how absurd this is— and my little experiment was, I assure you, very much tongue-in-cheek. What I am making light of, however, is not funny at all.
Do I expect someone to mind traffic signs? If issued by the city, yes. Something (however well fabricated) erected by a private citizen? No, not really. Either way it does not change the fact that we have an urban planning/public safety issue here. One which should be addressed STAT. I say this as someone who has landed on the hood of someone’s car because they did not obey traffic law. Had I not reacted so quickly I would have ended up in the hospital— or worse.
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