WPCNR MR. & MRS. & MS. WHITE PLAINS VOICE. March 16, 2006: A reader writes to say other towns in addition to White Plains use holidays and events to add to their coffers:
John,
Just wanted to respond to Mr. Spagnulo's note regarding his ticket.
The points I wanted to make:
(More)
1. This sort of disgraceful taking advantage of large public events isn't limited to White Plains.
Every time there's a car show or other event at Mamaroneck Harbor Park, there's never enough
parking, and the village police aggressively ticket people who get "creative" with their parking -
and by that I mean simply using parts of the lot that aren't specifically striped for parking.
The Village knows that there aren't enough legit spaces, so they use that as a cash cow.
2. Mr. Spagnulo, just like everyone else who is unfairly ticketed, should plead "not guilty"
and fight it in City court. While there isn't much excuse for someone who simply
pops into a store thinking they can shop quickly enough to avoid a ticket, Mr. Spagnulo
was most likely in an area of the parade behind a "bike rack" police barricade.
Those barricades are erected for a reason; for crowd control purposes, the police don't
want people floating around, but staying put and enjoying the parade until it's over.
3. Every election season, let's remind the candidates for mayor and common council how
fed up residents and visitors are with the aggressive ticketing, stingy meters
and increasing fines. Tell them we're sick of it, it's driving business away, and that
we want these unfair policies frozen, and then rolled back.
Sincerely,
Aaron Woodin
THE CITIZENETREPORTER CLARIFIES: Mr. Spagnulo reports to WPCNR he was parked on Cromwell Place along with "about 35 other cars" who were all ticketed from his observation. He says he had checked a municipal garage which appeared to him to be full.
Parking Department sources told WPCNR the Department feels that persons coming to the city to participate an event should be expected to pay for parking which the spokesperson said was "quite reasonable," 50 cents an hour, and that there were "plenty" of municipal garages in the city open on the St. Patrick's Day Parade day, that were open and which allow motorists to park for more than one hour.
