Motorcycles and Vespas on Sidewalks

chelsea

Has anyone else noticed the proliferation of motorcycles and Vespas parked on the sidewalks in Park Slope? According to the police, it's illegal. But no one seems to be getting ticketed. The problem is when you park and try to open your car door and there's a motorcycle or Vespa in the way. And I've also seen them chained to the metal racks meant for bicycles leaving no room for anything else.

garfunky

Yes, Yes and Yes.

Unfortunately
Its hard for the police to find time for nuisance crimes.
possibly because,

There has been population spike in the local "pitchfork wielding, torch carrying, witch-hunter " community.

just me

ok, so i hear ya when you say they can be in the way but frankly, as long as they are off to the side and not sitting in the middle of the sidewalk I don't blame them for parking on the sidewalk. when they are in the street they get hit or knocked down. folks w/cars get angry if the scooter takes up a whole parking space (and by law they are supposed to park it on an angle which would then take up a lot of street parking space) and some of the car owners move the bikes to make room for their cars). so it's a lose lose situation.
frankly i think strollers take up more room than the bikes do!

new2hood

I don't care where they park, but I do care when the motorcycles make more noise than a cargo plane taxi-ing down the street. That's illegal, and nothing's done about that either....

bradedward

I haven't noticed the Vespas, but I have noticed a bunch of cars parked up and down every single street in the neighborhood.

filmlover44

bradedward wrote: I haven't noticed the Vespas, but I have noticed a bunch of cars parked up and down every single street in the neighborhood.

daver

new2hood wrote: I don't care where they park, but I do care when the motorcycles make more noise than a cargo plane taxi-ing down the street. That's illegal, and nothing's done about that either....

It is funny when one sets off _all_ the car alarms on the way down...

kosherdave

new2hood wrote: I don't care where they park, but I do care when the motorcycles make more noise than a cargo plane taxi-ing down the street. That's illegal, and nothing's done about that either....

+1.
Not just annoying, but really, really lame.

armchair_warrior

in defense of the scooters and motorcycles, car parkers don't respect those machines, alot of times bang and knock down the scooters.

best place for them to park is the sidewalk.

eggcream

Call 311 to complain.

hamilton

"Best place for them to park is the sidewalk."

*****************************
Works for me

kosherdave

---^^^^^Rockin!

jamzer

armchair_warrior wrote: best place for them to park is the sidewalk.

Actually the best place for them to park is in their own living room. Sidewalks are not parking lots for motorcycles or vespas.

obamanut

Subject: Re: Motorcycles and Vespas on Sidewalks

chelsea wrote: Has anyone else noticed the proliferation of motorcycles and Vespas parked on the sidewalks in Park Slope? According to the police, it's illegal. But no one seems to be getting ticketed. The problem is when you park and try to open your car door and there's a motorcycle or Vespa in the way. And I've also seen them chained to the metal racks meant for bicycles leaving no room for anything else.

Just keep calling 311 and the precinct on them, that's what I do and will continue doing like I did today about the FIVE VESPAS parked on the sidewalk in front of 135 PPW. The last straw was when I was trying to walk past that building and got gridlocked between baby strollers AND Vespas. Unfortunately the scooters are the only thing I can do something about.

Parking bikes on the sidewalk has always been illegal, and USED to be enforced, there is no reason why some people should be able to occupy half the sidewalk with their scooters and be above the law.

longtimesloper

How do we feel about people riding bicycles on the sidewalks? I mean, don't we have all these bike lanes for a reason?!?

jeffrey

Subject: Re: Motorcycles and Vespas on Sidewalks

Obamanut wrote: The last straw was when I was trying to walk past that building and got gridlocked between baby strollers AND Vespas.

Hah, now this is funny. Stuck in the crossfire of what are usually two dangerous and often warring camps. (stroller-mowing parents and Vespa-fabulous single peeps, unless I am mistaken...)

Navigate carefully, for if these boards are any indication, you appear to have stumbled upon the Scylla and Charybdis of our age.

armchair_warrior

Jamzer wrote: [quote=armchair_warrior]best place for them to park is the sidewalk.

Actually the best place for them to park is in their own living room. Sidewalks are not parking lots for motorcycles or vespas.

untill nyc provides real parking spots for those things, they'll still be there regardless. same thing goes for bicycles.

just me

i say bike riders on the sidewalk are more dangerous than a parked scooter on the sidewalk. if the vespas are parked let them be. cops are cracking down on the scooters for other, more concerning issues like no helmets or lane splitting or no license or registrations. a parked scooter is far less dangerous than a moving bike and a stroller!!

carmen

LongTimeSloper wrote: How do we feel about people riding bicycles on the sidewalks? I mean, don't we have all these bike lanes for a reason?!?

I hate hate HATE this. Last weekend I almost got run over by two sets of parents riding their bikes with their kids on the sidewalk (thats 4 total adults and two little kids.)
If your child is young enough to ride a bike with training wheels on the sidewalk, can you not WALK next to he or she? Do you need to take your giant baby-seat wielding bike and ride at a snail's pace in the middle of the sidewalk on 7th ave?

daver

menace2society

longtimesloper

Glad to see that I am not the only one driven crazy by people riding their bikes on the sidewalks!

daver

LongTimeSloper wrote: Glad to see that I am not the only one driven crazy by people riding their bikes on the sidewalks!

If a cop catches you riding on the sidewalk, they can actually confiscate your bike. More often, they just give you a $150 ticket. Which would be unpleasant too. I ride on the street. Bike lane or not.

garfunky

Not to indicate ALL cyclists,

but those who do ride on the sidewalk dont seem to realize that the pedestrians whose backs are to them have no idea they cyclists are coming. If the unaware pedestrian who is not supposed to have a rear view mirror to stay aware of sidewalk cyclists, simply happens to sway a little to one side or another,
WHAMMO !!

About 25 years ago , a friend of mine had a leg broken this way.
After which, he won a civil $uit against the cyclist.

bullyboy

Thanks, Hamilton. That motorcycle is parked on the sidewalk every single day!

superjonbot

Lets start ticketing people that jaywalk too! seriously, would you rather have less parking spaces with motorcycles taking up street space because they park at an angle or even in-line because it is necessary because of our streets' slope (kickstands don't work very well on steep angles)? I have yet to be unable to walk down a sidewalk because of a sidewalked parked vespa or motorcycle. Gee, maybe while we're getting rid of the motorcycles blocking sidewalk traffic, lets chop down all those damn trees that get in the way too.