Parking for Park Place btwn Franklin Classon

Usually there's a DOT sign and/or markers on the street where the cut outs are for pedestrian crossings. An example would be on Sterling Pl. between Underhill & Plaza. The cutout on the north/west side of Sterling is indeed in the middle of the block, but is parallel with the corner of Plaza and is clearly marked as a legal crossing. Saying all this, I agree with Booklaw. Call 311 and/or DOT.

You are not supposed to park in front of the stairs, because there is not other access to the sidewalk from the roadway in that area. Police will ticket on slow days (actually 2 out of 3 times you'll probably get away with it, but why risk it?)because the logic is that the small walkays at street level are not wide enough for pedestrians to safely traverse the area.

Think about it this way, when your parents reach the point of needing a cane or a walker to get around, do you want them to walk in the street until they can get back on the sidewalk? Its a pain in the neck when you are looking for parking, but blocking the stairs creates problems for everyone on the block who is bringing packages up from the street, getting elderly people or small children up to the sidewalk, or anyone else with mobility problems.

sorta unrelated, in some hoods of brooklyn some jerks would use cones to hold spots for themsleves all day long and if anyone parks at those pots, they'll do stuff to them. when day if i ever become as old and cranky as them, i'll go and blow their houses up for being such douche bags.

Slope1980 said:

If there is no law against it, park your car wherever the hell you damn want. It's a spot, take it. It is a problem when a bunch of people on a block can dictate their own policies through bullying tactics. Just be prepare to be as violent, as angry and as reprehensible in that moment in order to defend your right not to be intimated. It doesn't make you like them, it makes you willingly to do what is needed to protect yourself and your rights. The problem is that the majority of average citizens would rather avoid the conflict, so they bow to the desires of people who are willing to exercise their might and then comfort themselves by telling themselves they are the bigger person. While in actuality, it only encourages these people to bully the next person who tries to park in the LEGAL SPOT.

Of course, take my advice with a grain of salt. I do not live on the block in question. If you believe if I was in the position I would not act this way and only feel this way because I do not have to make the decision myself, then move your car. But I say you did nothing wrong.

^^^^This is exactly what is wrong in NYC today. You would encourage someone to do something that inconviences (and potentially endangers) ALL of their neighbors simply because they can? What kind of person does this? The stairs are there for a reason. They were not put there as a decorative structure, they are the only way to get onto the sidewalk for about thirty feet.

Since you say you don't know the block, let me try and explain it to you. The street angles downward while the sidewalk continues at grade. For about thirty feet, there is parking with enough clearance for the car doors to be opened about a 18 inches and then there is a SOLID WALL. There isn't enough space to walk next to the cars, and there certainly isn't enough space for anyone to manuver pushing, pulling or carrying anything. For people parking in this area, those stairs are the only way to get onto the sidewalk. Your only other option is to walk in the street with traffic, until the street angles back up and returns to grade. Its the same way on both sides of the street.

And you are seriously telling someone unless their neighbors prove to them there is a law against it, its okay to force everyone else to deal?

i'd just look up and down the block and see how other people do.

having only parked on that block 2 or 3 times i would venture to say that most people block the steps - at least when parking is tight.

^ ditto.

there may be 1 or 2 people who are legitimately elderly/disabled inconvenienced by it but i seriously doubt there is block-wide solidarity to stick up for them.

Those aren't ramps though. Maybe I'm nit picking but, I don't believe they qualify as any type of crosswalk either. Those stairs are certainly not wheelchair friendly, the people who could really benefit from a ramp,by any means. I haven't taken a close look at the block for a while, so maybe my point is for naught.

I don't know how regularly this happens, but I've personally witnessed tickets being issued for parking in these spots.

It's perfectly legal to park there. Even if we consider these to be "pedestrian ramps" it is legal to park at pedestrian ramps that are mid block. It is even legal to park at pedestrian ramps where there is a T-intesection mid block. The only exception would be if DOT had signs posted at the location prohibiting parking such as those found on Austin St. in Forest Hills.

Police Officers and Traffic Agents who issue "pedestrian ramp" summonses for this have obviously not taken the time to learn the traffic rules that they are enforcing.