Bloomberg Apologizes, Waives Parking Tickets
Mayor Michael Bloomberg apologized on Friday to drivers all over the city who were outraged that parking rules were upheld during this week's winter storm, resulting in thousands of tickets on stuck cars.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience to people," he said, "but you've got to make decisions and try things and each storm is different." Bloomberg added that the tickets would be thrown out.
A day earlier, Bloomberg had dismissed drivers' complaints as mere laziness.
"This was not a lot of snow. It was easy to move your car," he told reporters on Thursday. "I don't like to get up early in the morning and have to do anything either -- I'd like to sleep in, too."
During snowstorms, the city often suspends what are known as alternate side of the street parking regulations. The rules dictate on which side of the street drivers can park at certain times during the day, a schedule that allows cleaning vehicles to sweep along the curbs.
The rules were not suspended for Wednesday's storm. Although just a few inches fell, the combination of sleet, snow and ice formed rigid crusts around curbs and vehicles in some parts of the city, and many motorists could not chip it away to get their cars out.
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_047144021.html
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Posted By Chaptzem to Chaptzem Blog! at 2/16/2007 04:05:00 PM
