February 5, 2022 --

This LPR story indicates that media callousness to the Deplorable Class is not of recent origin.  See how the media, given parking privileges by New York's City Hall, had no sympathy for the rough treatment, by way of high parking fines, literally handed out to ordinary  car owners in the Big Apple.

Mr. Haberman, is this the
end of due process for street-parking drivers in New York City?

March 13, 2005 --

New York City mayoral hopeful Fernando Ferrer -- a former Bronx borough president -- recently indicated his opposition to Sunday metered parking near houses of
worship.

New York Times columnist Clyde Haberman thereupon pounced in sarcasm, calling Mr.Ferrer "the eminent theologian," Mr. Haberman apparently has little sympathy for New York drivers, and no interest in their reality.

First he pointed to "surveys showing that most city residents do not own cars." So? If drivers are a minority, squeeze them as revenue source? Three paragraphs down, driverphobe Mr. Haberman asserted, "The reality is that New York polticians go out of their way to cut
drivers slack, and religion is often the rationale."

For LPR, $65 dollar fines for being a few minutes overtime at a parking meter is no indication of slack from politicians. Parking tickets without notice is no slack from politicians.

Judgments sent from New York City that do not refer to courts, much less a judge, to justify seizure by city marshals is no slack from politicians. Disregard of incorrect addresses on parking tickets is no slack from politicians.

And if anyone doubted Mr. Haberman's lack of sympathy for New York City residents who own cars, he concluded
his March 8 anti-driver column by suggesting that Jesus "would take the subway."

Early this year, LPR posted a new motto -- "Miles from the Mainstream (the previous motto remains in the logo). Mr. Haberman's column, lacking all sympathy of sentiments for drivers in New York City
suggests that he might restyle his space in the Times, "Miles from the People."

LPR here publishes a photo of cars double-parked near a church on 138th Street -- a phenomenon apparently not
acknowledged by Mr. Ferrer or Mr. Haberman.

Cars double-parked near a church in Manhattan, Sunday, March 6.

(LPR has a hunch these cars do not get tickets.) Mr. Haberman also did not
acknowledge that there are yet places in New York City where parking meters do not demand quarters on Sundays. (LPR is willing to grant Mr. Haberman a pun when he wrote in his invidious column, "...metered parking as an evil resonates in some quarters....")

No need to feed parking meter on Riverdale Avenue, Bronx, NY.

Mr. Haberman seems to think that the mayor's critics are using the no-Sunday- parking -meters-near-churches- issue
to make Mr. Bloomberg look bad. But that, of course, already happened when the mayor, as noted in The New York Sun, March 11-13 edition, "nearly doubled parking fines in late 2002." The Sun story, by Jeremy Smerd, reported an arrangement between the city and major companies like UPS, FedEx and Verizon for payment of fines received at fire hydrants, with overtime and double-parking fines waived. Doesn't sound like equal justice to LPR.

Mr.Smerd also noted that the city's Department of Finance hires " administrative judges...to collect the fines owed the city...." If that statement is accurate, is there no one to inquire whether New York City is trampling on due process to use motorists as revenue-raising source? Please see this week's poll questions.

What about the parking slack you press guys get, Mr. Haberman?