Security Blanket for New York - with a few holes in it.

Not Know How!
Terror Trials’ Security Blanket Full of Holes, Thousands of ‘em!

If the terror trials take place in lower Manhattan as planned, there is absolutely no way Ray Kelly can guarantee our safety.  It’s impossible. Why?  Because there are currently thousands of false parking placards used everyday in our town, especially in lower Manhattan near the federal court buildings. In a recent meeting with Chinatown leaders Commissioner Kelly pointed that THERE WILL BE NO PRIVATE Cars allowed in the soft zone perimeter - "only government and NYPD vehicles" .

That suspicious white van at Times Square, ignored for two whole days because of a fake parking placard, exposed a gaping hole in the NYPD security blanket.  This hole would only get larger with the terror trials located in lower Manhattan.  Commissioner Kelly acknowledged: "There's no question, we should've known about it earlier."  Well, earlier would have been impossible because enforcement officers on the street are instructed to give placarded parked cars a pass.  

At this time the Feds have not taken lower Manhattan off the table as a location for the trials.  It also seems they have not taken the fake parking placard/car bomb threat seriously because this threat is not even mentioned in the media at large.  Excuse me, but shoving this placarded car bomb threat under the rug does not make it go away!   

For years post 9/11, a time of extreme heightened security, the number of placarded cars increased many times at great cost to the local communities’ economy and quality of life. Planning to locate the terror trials in lower Manhattan federal court portends a devastating repeat of the same – only this time with the additional threat of placarded terrorist car bombs exploding in and around our neighborhood!

Federal Courts unsecurable for terror trials in lower Manhattan - Just like post 9/11, securing the area entails a multitude of government employee vehicles using parking permits everyday (and let’s not forget the dozens of press vehicles that would also be present on a daily basis).  The federal court vicinity and bordering neighborhoods would become a magnet for a huge number of placarded vehicles - each one of which could be a car bomb.  

Obviously, the threat of placarded car bombs would not exist elsewhere on Governor's Island or any similar location where access to vehicle parking is exclusively controlled.  The sooner the Feds realize this car bomb threat isunsecurable, the safer we all will be.  Get the trials outta here to a place that can actually be secured!  


Geoff Lee
Lifelong Chinatown Resident
Lives 1-block from Federal Court Bldg

Another reason why dashboard placards are DANGEROUS ...

This story is posted by GOTHAMIST

Senator Espada Uses Placard to Block Hydrant Days After Bronx Fire

Courtesy Boogie Downer/Uncivil Servants

Two days after a second devastating fire destroyed several businesses in the Norwood section of The Bronx, a Mercedes Benz registered to controversial State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. was observed illegally parked in front of a fire hydrant with a Police Vehicle Identification placard in the window. The Benz was noticed by Boogie Downer, whose photos were then picked up by the permanently galled Uncivil Servants blog (which specializes in photos of parking placard abuse). Police parking permits are not typically issued to legislators, and parking at a hydrant is illegal at all times, even for those with official permits.

Last night Espada issued this statement to a local tabloid, which posted it on the Internet: "While I cannot check at the moment because I am in conference at the Senate retreat in upstate New York, I am certain that the police placard was issued at the request of a member of my staff." (It would be a shame if this flap ruins the big Senate retreat; today they're doing trust falls!)

Of course, in his defense, Espada's vehicle wasn't there overnight—probably because his actual full-time residence is (allegedly) not in his district, but is in Westchester, which is something the Bronx DA has supposedly been investigating

Government dashboard placards = terrorist tools - Mayor Bloomberg "Dump those placards"

The point has been made in front of our own eyes recently that dashboard placards are downright dangerous in the post 9/11 world we live in. If there was one single tool that is useful to terrorist, it's not a van with explosives, it's a van with explosives AND A PLACARD.   The placard gives the terrorist unhindered access to sensitive areas, allows him to park for hours,and puts US all in jeopardy. What good is a police barricade when all it takes is a piece of laminated paper (bought for $20.00) to gain access?

The Civic Center Residents Coalition has been saying for years that using an illegal placard amounts to impersonating an officer, this is what happened at Times Sq. We are all lucky that this unattended van was not used for terrorist purposes. Lucky, that is , this time.  The word is out now that there are simply too many bogus placards out there, combined with the intimidation the placard represents, that enforcement of parking rules is virtually impossible. This makes us unsafe Mr. Mayor.

The use of placards , so long as there is a single bogus placard in existence, confuses ticket agents and makes enforcement virtually impossible. This is the reason why NYC must do away with placards completely !  Three years ago we said this, and now our case has been made very clear.

If the Mayor and his bogus DOT commissioner Sadik "Con" refuse to completely revoke all placards and enact fast fleet technology for all government associated vehicles, both government fleet and privately owned, then we will be in constant danger . Fast Fleet technology, already in use in other cities in America, negates the use of placards and relies on 21st technology which is already in place in the rental car industry ; satellite tracking.

The reluctance of a full transition from plastic laminated paper placards (easily forged and confusing to ticket agents) to tracking all government employees by satellite is no longer a choice that needs to be debated, tested, ,and bartered, it is a necessity. The current system wastes tens of millions of dollars (all of which can be used for the subway infrastructure) AND thanks to this recent NY Times article we now know the DANGER of this system can kill thousands of NY'ers.

What's your excuse now Mayor Bloomberg?

The threat is real, the placards must be replaced by fast fleet. There is no longer a choice.

Here is the NY Times article:

Police Say Placard Misled Them Into Overlooking a Suspect Van in Times Square

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By AL BAKER

Published: December 31, 2009

A bogus placard on the windshield of a suspicious-looking van played a role in why the Police Department did not investigate the vehicle for two days while it was parked in Times Square, a police spokesman said Thursday.
The vehicle’s owner, meanwhile, was arrested and charged with a felony.
The van was reported to the police Wednesday morning by a security officer at Condé Nast, which has offices in Times Square. The authorities closed nearby streets for two hours and evacuated part of the Condé Nast and Nasdaq buildings as bomb squad officers arrived with a robot to search the vehicle.
The windows on the vehicle, a white 1997 Dodge Ram Van, had been blacked out, and it had no license plates. It had been parked on Broadway between 41 and 42nd Streets since Monday, and it should have aroused police suspicions before officers were called to investigate, said Paul J. Browne, the department’s chief spokesman.
“We certainly would have preferred to have found it earlier; we think we should have,” Mr. Browne said. “But we appreciate the fact that an alert security person from Condé Nast did.”
The episode put a spotlight on the department’s security strategies just before the annualNew Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square.
Mr. Browne said that the windshield placard made the van appear to be an official law enforcement vehicle. He said it “may have misled traffic enforcement agents who would otherwise have paid closer attention to it.”
The placard was produced by a group that charges $20 a piece for such items, and it was “clearly designed to try to avoid parking summonses,” Mr. Browne said.
The van’s owner, George Freyer, 36, of New Jersey, was arrested about 6 p.m. Thursday after arriving with his lawyer at the Midtown South station house. He was charged with possession of a forged instrument, a felony, and a lesser charge that was not immediately clear. The felony charge, the police said, was related to an expired out-of-state vehicle registration document on which a new expiration date had been written by hand.
The police said the van was loaded with folding tables and scarves, and they did not believe that Mr. Freyer intended any harm.
Mr. Browne said traffic enforcement agents, who are Police Department employees, were educated about the proper use of official parking placards and dashboard-mounted permits. He said the placard discovered in the van would be added to a list of “photographs of bogus placards” to help the traffic agents perform their jobs.

photo: uncivilservants.org

Just try to pick out the "bogus" placard among these, apparently a NYPD traffic agent can do it either.

As Michael Bloomberg claims NYC is a safer City than it was in 2001, we have our doubts so long as

his employees are allowed to hide terrorists in our own neighborhoods by using placards on dashboards.

When Will NYC Government Go GREEN With Their OWN CARS?!?!?!?!?

On Feb. 13th 2009 CCRC reported on Washington D.C.'s progressive and aggressive approach to curtailing abuse of its government fleet of cars. Washington D.C., like NYC, suffers from a plethora of a good thing gone bad - the "good thing" is about to come to an end for government employees in Washington where tracking, online booking and "zip-car-like" technology is employed to cut the government fleet of cars from 360 to just 60 !!
Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty said that the majority of government cars sit for hours and days unused and the City had to pay for that storage time. A much better solution, according to the Mayor was to make a small amount of cars available on an "as-needed" basis. Like Zip Car rental cars, the user, in this case the government employee would have to go on line to "book" a car with a limited amount of time, after which time the car would have to be returned to its "home base".

Here is another article about Washington D.C.'s approach to their government cars.
New York's own Mayor Bloomberg should take some lessons from Mayor Fente and get serious about his GREEN initiative.

When the D.O.T. and Deputy Mayor Skyler met with members of the Chinatown community, the only community to propose this solution to address ourown placard abuse problems, they were met with this statement from the Deputy Mayor "placards are a perk that we believe we owe our employees since we don't compensate them with very much pay".

Big difference in City governance, don't you think? and don't you think NYC deserves better?

It's not a surprise that the Mayor never considered this solution when he and his "sheep" in the City Council proposed congestion pricing as a solution to reducing the number of cars in Manhattan. The Mayor claims to have done a lot to reduce government car abuse by its own employees, but in reality he has left himself an "out" by never proposing a permanent solution.
Placard reduction can quickly and insidiously become placard "growth" once again.

Tracking and online booking of government vehicles provides a permanent solution. Until the Mayor adopts this 21st solution to abuse that even he admits has gotten out of hand, the citizens of NYC will continue to suffer. Taxing the rest of us is not the solution. This is the start of a solution, the City must consider it.


Monday, April 27, 2009, 1:48pm EDT | Modified: Monday, April 27, 2009, 2:04pm
D.C. launches car program for city workers
Washington Business Journal - by Tierney Plumb Staff Reporter

D.C. has launched a vehicle fleet management program for its government employees through Zipcar’s FastFleet service.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and Zipcar chairman and CEO Scott Griffith made the announcement on Monday.

D.C. government employees can access and reserve city vehicles at fast-fleet.com and select a car type and location. Through a city-issued access card and integrated card reader mounted under the windshield, they can drive the car for official business use.

The D.C. government piloted the program last October with 29 vehicles and four sites. Monday’s launch consists of 58 vehicles at eight sites, which includes 56 hybrid and alternative fueled vehicles.

So far, D.C. has cut about 360 vehicles from D.C.’s motor fleet, yielding an estimated savings of $6.6 million over five years.

“D.C. is leading the way for cities to implement cost effective and sustainable solutions for fleet management,” said Griffith. “We are pleased to partner with D.C. to launch our FastFleet solution and bring the benefits of our car sharing technology to governments across the country.”

The program reduces costs by maximizing fleet utilization on an hourly basis, allowing many trips to be supported by a smaller number of cars. Fleet Share cars average as many as 10 drivers for every one car.

Government workers have a day off from commuting - Chinatown breaths again.

Monday - President's Day Feb 16th 09

What if 85 % - 90% of all government workers, NYPD, and court officers used mass transit?
What if it was illegal for government employees to use a personal car to drive to work and park for free?
What if any car a government worker needed to use was able to be tracked and monitored?
What if City Hall got SERIOUS about traffic congestion and defied unions and political pressure in favor of clear air and free flowing safe streets and sidewalks free of cars parked on them?
What if Chinatown's largest park WASN'T ringed bumper to bumper with Government sanctioned personal cars used for commuting?
What if NYC led that NATION in putting an end to what Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler calls "a necessary perk we feel balances out moderate salaries paid to our employees"?
What if NYC traffic agents could carry out their job free of intimidation from Police?
What if bullies with dashboard placards didn't exist?

We'd have what you see in these photos. This photo was taken on Mulberry St where NYC has designated this stretch of what used to be public land "for Government parking only".On this public holiday there are no government or court officers cars commuting, and therefore the street is blissfully clear at 12:30pm.
On any given weekday government cars that are parked here stay here for the entire day because the cars that park on this stretch of Mulberry St. are used for commuting and commuting only.
Until Mayor Bloomberg REMOVES this unnecessary PERK from City employees and NYPD our streets will continue to be overrun with traffic, and pollution and our streets, PARTICULARLY Chinatown's streets will continue to be unsafe.

It's time to eliminate the Government Parking Perk.
We don't need congestion pricing to make this City better, we need BETTER GOVERNMENT to make this City better !!!