watch your a**, or where you put it.

May 20, 2003 7:48 AM

New York man gets ticket for sitting on a milk crate.Not, of course, that i take the NY Daily News all that seriously, but still... This is beyond ridiculous (much like a lot of things taking place in New York these days). Makes me ill that I have to wait until 2006 to vote this ridiculous mayor out of office.
posted by cadence (22 comments total)

From the article: "The summons from hell came days after the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association charged that beat cops are under pressure to write tickets and meet illegal quotas to help pump money into city coffers. City officials strongly deny those charges."

Translation: Police union is in a beef with the Mayor. They decide to make Bloomberg look bad. They pick out some random archaic infraction -- "Thou musn't parade draft animals on Tuesday" -- go out, ticket some poor mook, call the Daily News. The Daily News has a man-bites-dog story; Mayor looks bad. Everyone wins, except...
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 7:53 AM on May 20, 2003

in certain quarters, milk crates are suspected to have conspired with box cutters, though evidence remains slim.
posted by quonsar at 7:53 AM on May 20, 2003

"Translation: Police union is in a beef with the Mayor. They decide to make Bloomberg look bad."

I saw him on Question Time, on the BBC, some time ago.

He doesn't need anyone's help.
posted by Blue Stone at 8:05 AM on May 20, 2003

Can't wait to dump present mayor? ok. But it was the prevfious mayor who began the quality of life program that made NY, according to so many people, a nice place after years of being a rotten place. The two mayors, the present one and the previous one, are both from the same party. Will a Democratic mayor strike a nice balence?

Is "making a quota" a new thing with the present mayor?
posted by Postroad at 8:09 AM on May 20, 2003

Ahh, I get it, Bloombertg is bad, but at least he's not a scary democrat who'll let all the prisoners go free. Gotcha.
posted by Space Coyote at 8:14 AM on May 20, 2003

Can't wait to dump present mayor? ok. But it was the prevfious mayor who began the quality of life program that made NY, according to so many people, a nice place after years of being a rotten place. The two mayors, the present one and the previous one, are both from the same party. Will a Democratic mayor strike a nice balence?

Wasn't the present mayor a democrat until just a year before the election?
posted by Plunge at 8:17 AM on May 20, 2003

yes, it's true, there is definitely beef between the police and the mayor. i meet a lot of off-duty cops working security and general consensus is that they do, they hate the mayor (but love the President, go figure - this is confusing).

as far as the previous mayor - yes, he made New York "a nice place to live" - if you consider turning this place into a suburbia safe enough for people who should never left Westchester making New York a nice place to live, that is... He also waged ruthless "relocation" campaigns on homeless people in order to "clean up New York", killed off programs that kept kids off the streets (so they could cause trouble and feed the prison system instead), assisted in the disneyfication of 42nd street, and reinstated the racist old cabaret law so people couldn't dance in bars (now Bloomberg's stepped this up with the smoking ban). Yeah, great set of mayors we've had the past two rounds. I'd rather have Gomorrah any day. This city's lost its character.
posted by cadence at 8:23 AM on May 20, 2003

Look. We should be thanking Bloomberg for not talking to us like we're little children who can be hoodwinked. The buck is stopping with him - he's delivering the hard news that basically the Guiliani administration CAUSED, without even dissing Rudy. Yes, he's an uncharismatic wonk. No, he's probably not half the criminal Rudy was.

The cops are out of control since 9-11 - they're in the element, strutting around illegally grabbing land, lobbing grenades at elderly women, and gosh darn it all, they're getting paid TONS of money to do what the US Marines could not do: bring security to iraq.

The only thing I'm upset about with Bloomy is that he has put me in the very awkward spot of defending a republican. Cursed interesting times.
posted by DenOfSizer at 8:24 AM on May 20, 2003

I voted for Mark Green, but given the state of the economy in NYC post Sept 11 - unemployment at a 10 yr high, businesses leaving downtown Manhattan in scores and so on - I'm not sure he could have done much better.

Despite the bewildering cigarette ban, I thought he was doing a reasonable job under very trying circumstances. But I'm not sure being fine happy (recent spate of fines slapped on deli and newsstand owners with "wordy awnings") is going to reduce the budget deficit. I'm afraid that without a turnaround in the economy and more funding from financially-strapped NY State (unlikely) it'll be lights out for NYC.

As far as Dems vs. Reps go, I think these issues are beyond the ability politics to fix them or assign blame to them at this point. Seemingly, the only way that city is going to make it is to pursue the draconing budget cuts proposed by the Mayor. And so much for NYC being a "nice place to live" after the NYPD is cut in half. Besides, the Post is now accusing him of being a Democrat these days anyway, so what do politics matter anyway?
posted by psmealey at 8:24 AM on May 20, 2003

"According to a Bronx police source, cops are enforcing a quality-of-life campaign called Operation Impact. "There have been complaints of people hanging out, sitting on milk crates, drinking beer, playing cards," the source said."

It sure seems like lupus_yonderboy is right. I certainly hope so, because the alternative is downright scary.
posted by magullo at 8:27 AM on May 20, 2003

Wow, it looks like someone needs to lay the smack down on the police dept. they're just city employees after all, aren't they?
posted by blue_beetle at 8:28 AM on May 20, 2003

57 is an elderly woman?? Regardless, that raid sounds insane - perhaps I would get a heart attack if cops raided my bedroom with a flash granade while I was sleepig, I scare easily.
posted by dabitch at 8:38 AM on May 20, 2003

cabaret law so people couldn't dance in bars (now Bloomberg's stepped this up with the smoking ban)

Sounds like Dallas, the southern border is moving further north.
posted by thomcatspike at 8:39 AM on May 20, 2003

That cabaret law also was very selectively enforced, used to shut down many more gay bars than straight here during "Giuliani time"...i guess our "quality of life" didn't count as much....

Bloomberg is beyond useless, a paler version of Giuliani...he actually thinks he'll be reelected, too
posted by amberglow at 10:23 AM on May 20, 2003

So illegal quotas are okay with Republicans now?

Truly we are a land of laws, and not justice.
posted by infowar at 10:35 AM on May 20, 2003

So illegal quotas are okay with Republicans now?
Quotas in them selves are illegal?
posted by thomcatspike at 10:45 AM on May 20, 2003

"So illegal quotas are okay with Republicans now?
Quotas in them selves are illegal?"

According to the article they are. Of course, I was doing a little meta-play on the word "quota", but hey, play is where it is at.
posted by infowar at 1:14 PM on May 20, 2003

"Look. We should be thanking Bloomberg for not talking to us like we're little children who can be hoodwinked. The buck is stopping with him - he's delivering the hard news that basically the Guiliani administration CAUSED, (...) No, he's probably not half the criminal Rudy was."

perhaps ... but i'm not going to thank bloomberg anytime soon for his unsympathetic, bordering on unethical tactics - and i doubt in the long run new york will either. i think we're possibly looking at a massive exodus soon of young individuals and businesses, both small and large in the near future. blame guiliani, praise bloomberg? maybe, but this seems a bit simplistic to me considering it glosses over a huge part of what guiliani *did* accomplish, and what we're now suffering from - that being that terrorist act, it's economic fallout, AND a dishonest, greedy bureaucratic system.

(rant on) listen, i can cope with the idea that i'm going to have to shell out more to help the city i love - that's totally ok with me - but not to the extent that i'm being currently squeezed. there's huge problems going on in nyc now and noone, not even bloomburg, seems to want to honestly tackle. commuting has increased - promoted by an outrageous lie of deficit and a glossed-over half billion dollars - and which bloomberg supported, my commuting fees are now more expensive than my rent - that's right, my COMMUTE is now more expensive than my RENT. for anyone who rides the mta, metro-north and LIRR - they know that we could do with a few more new or fixed old trains than the current millions-of-dollars massive overhaul of the LIRR head office - i had no heat on my trains all winter and the LIRR seems to think it needs a face-lift and to distribute little pamphlets that say 'we're 98% on time on (favorably chosen but not my rail route)'. yeah, i need that. the subway needs a totally rehauling, but heaven forbid they stop paying some delinquent plumber his $3.4M. add to that the commuter tax they're discussing, and i'm looking at a serious paycheck problem. what did they say, no taxation without representation... eh? no, i'm not bitter... errr, in any case, it's a pretty narrow-minded road bloomberg has chosen during a time when unemployment is at epidemic levels and increasing every day ...

further more, this whole ridiculous "city nanny" mentality that's running rampant around ... excess fines for the most ridiculous things - excess ticketing. what has it got us? it hasn't saved any of the several fire houses pending closure. i know we need money, but there's only so far common sense can stretch. case in point: the whole smoking ban ... this is out of control. it's now $9 per pack at some places in the city (soho), and they're debating another $1.50 rise. maybe it is good that so many people are quitting smoking because of the cost, but most people are just ordering their cigarettes online or getting them over the border in nj or long island. they're not generating more revenue from the tax, they're redirecting that revenue to outside suppliers. we're also seeing a new streak of crime whereby people are stealing cartons instead of the cash in registers ... and small businesses? it wasn't too long ago that the city required and enforced separate smoking areas - forcing many hangouts/restaurants/bars to drop money on that. now you can't smoke at all - in bars, in clubs, in those areas restaurants has specifically built and spent money on for smokers. now they're dropping money on fines that don't even need to be substantiated. there's reports of officials walking into a bar or club, sniffing and if they *think* they smell smoke, giving a fine. ah yes, illegal dancing and second hand smoke - that's just what's on my mind when i'm killing my liver on a pollution-filled friday night in a roach infested corner of the city. come on, people don't come to new york for its wholesomeness... you want that, go to utah.

personally, i'd say what's needed in new york isn't massive fines and tax raises, it's a massive audit. praise bloomberg? ug. (rant off)
posted by eatdonuts at 1:20 PM on May 20, 2003

Wasn't the present mayor a democrat until just a year before the election?

Well, as a matter of fact, yes. Yes he was.

It's a pity that Guliani endorsed him.
posted by hama7 at 4:13 PM on May 20, 2003

A simple question - whose milk crate was it? If this guy wasn't the registered owner, what's the problem? This guy wasn't fined because of illegal quotas, bureaucratic conspiracies, or police harassment.

He cited because he was in possession of, and illegally using, stolen property. It's amazing how many folks think that milk crates are just fine to take from loading docks & trucks for storage (or furniture.)

(Bracing for unnecessary abuse...)
posted by FormlessOne at 6:23 PM on May 20, 2003

(Bracing for unnecessary abuse...)

Brace not, for I agree.

My only question is: Why wasn't the stolen property returned?
posted by hama7 at 7:28 PM on May 20, 2003

hama7, my first thought prior to reading the article was exactly as FormlessOne commented. After reading the article; the cop writes a nuisance ticket but didn't properly write up the ticket for the bigger(stolen crate instead of sitting in a public walkway) offense that was being committed. Maybe the cop at the time brain farted, completely.
posted by thomcatspike at 9:59 AM on May 22, 2003