Thurs., Jan. 15 – Wed., Jan. 22
ALTERNATE SIDE PARKING RULES ARE SUSPENDED MONDAY FOR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY
Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, is a Summons Alert Day! It may be a three-day weekend for schools and most offices, but it’s no three-day weekend for parking rules. Only alternate side parking is suspended on Monday. All other rules, including meters, are still in effect.
The holiday will mean lower traffic volumes overall.
All Manhattan-bound lanes of the Brooklyn Bridge will close 11 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday, midnight Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday, midnight Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday, and 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through Wednesday nights. Expect extra traffic on the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges, as well as in the Battery Tunnel. Canal, Delancey, and West Sts. will also slow down.
In tunnel news, one New York-bound lane and one New Jersey-bound lane of the Holland Tunnel will close 11 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday. Expect extra traffic on Canal and Varick Sts.
On West St./Route 9A, one southbound lane from Vesey St. to West Thames St. will be closed 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday and Friday.
From the mailbag:
Dear Transit Sam,
My son says that the buttons pedestrians push at corners are useless and have no impact on when the light changes. He insists they are there for psychological reasons to give the illusion of control.
What is the definitive answer here?
Cary, New York
Dear Cary,
Your son is half-right, but he gives too much credit to the traffic engineers — they’re not very good at creating illusions.
Almost none of the pedestrian push buttons work in the city proper (a couple still work where there is no intersection or very few pedestrians crossing). When they were first installed 45 years ago, they made the pedestrian crossing come on 3-5 seconds sooner. But, people were pressing them all the time in all directions and the traffic was slowed so the buttons were dismantled. Within N.Y.C. you’ll find a few that still work at the airports, and the recently installed push buttons at Central and Prospect Parks are in operation. Outside N.Y.C., you’ll often find that you need to use the buttons not only to make the walk signal come on sooner but to make it come on at all. Not a good way to encourage walking.
Transit Sam
Dear Transit Sam,
I was driving on Canal St. last weekend and I noticed that in the car next to mine, a man was driving with a cat in his lap. It was pawing at him and moving all around! That cannot be safe. Is there a state law about driving with pets in the front seat of a vehicle?
Claire, Battery Park City
Dear Claire,
There is no law explicitly barring pets from the front seat, but there is one that can be construed to fit, with a little stretching. Article 33, Section 1213 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law states: “No person shall drive a motor vehicle when it is so loaded as to obstruct the view of the driver to the front or sides of the vehicle or as to interfere with the driver’s control over the driving mechanism of the vehicle. No passenger in a vehicle shall ride in such a position as to interfere with the driver’s view ahead or to the sides, or to interfere with his control over the driving mechanism of the vehicle.”
Driving with a cat on the lap may fit interfering with driving mechanism. But, I doubt if such a ticket is ever written except maybe in the case of a crash.
Transit Sam
Email your traffic, transit and parking questions to transitsam@downtownexpress.com. Gridlock Sam’s 2015 Parking Calendar is available online as a free download and through the Gridlock Sam store as a printed copy for $3 shipping and handling ($1 for each additional calendar). To access the download link, follow me on Twitter @gridlocksam, or subscribe to my newsletter at gridlocksam.com.
