Thanks, Pearson! Hoboken loses 12 parking spots!

Now that construction has started on the big Pearson Education project down by the waterfront, not only do nearby residents have to endure the years of construction noise and debris – but Hoboken loses 12 parking spots to boot! Not only that – we also lost part of a bike lane, too! Oh, the humanity!

With parking at a bare minimum in Hoboken, something as seemingly minor as this “inconvenience” will still impact drivers, area businesses, and heck – even the city coffers as less parking tickets and boots can be issued (although they’ll just probably write more fake tickets they’re known for issuing to make up for it!)

It brings up an interesting question, though. Because the road was narrowed, and parking spots lost – does Pearson have to pay the city the daily “temporary no parking” rate of $40 per spot? That’s nearly $15,000 per month!

I’m sure if I moved a dumpy sofa in the middle of the road causing spots to be lost – they’d be all over me!

Do you think that large construction projects that cause quality of life issues for both residents and visitors should be handled differently? Maybe Pearson can hand out free parking for drivers in the garage next door? Or temporary parking hang tags to allow drivers to park on permit-parking restricted side streets?

There’s always something affecting our street parking in Hoboken…

Technorati Tags: Bike Lanes, construction, Hoboken, New Jersey, NJ, Parking, Pearson Education, PHOTO OF THE DAY, SJP

More “do as we say, not as we do” in Hoboken, NJ

No, we’re not talking people in this country illegally, nope. Saw this city vehicle parked illegally in the “red hot no way” zone – impeding views of both drivers and pedestrians near 5th & Hudson yesterday.

Upon further inspection – the SUV inspection sticker was also nearly a year expired!

What’s up with that? Is the city exempt from this? Can we do that too? If so – where do we sign up?

Technorati Tags: City Offender Zone, expired inspection, Hoboken, Illegal Parking, New Jersey, NJ, red curb

Hoboken fire zone blocked: By bicycles

Well for one thing – city officials in town definitely read the story we published earlier this month – Bikers are a minority in Hoboken – because shortly thereafter, they scrambled to install more bike racks outside Texas Arizona here.

This spot is a FIRE ZONE. What makes a barrier and bikes any different than cars parking there? Now if there’s some kind of fire – and a fireman tears the hose on a bike sprocket, or gets injured fumbling through these bikes – who will pay the price?

If cars can’t park there – What makes it OK for bikes?

Technorati Tags: bike racks, bikes, Fire Zone, Hoboken, New Jersey, NJ, no parking, PHOTO OF THE DAY, photography

Hoboken illegal parking champ: Domino’s Pizza

Hoboken411 reader Scott noticed how Domino’s Pizza downtown “must be making a killing,” due to the number of illegally parked delivery cars they had (five).

Poor Hoboken bike lanes were blocked too, but curiously, even the hard-core bikers in town must be afraid of the rain – because no one was using them.

Funny thing is that this is just a block from Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s house – and considering she’s a huge proponent of said bike lanes, you would think that this racket would be shut down ASAP.

Unless, of course, she has an under-the-table deal for “free pizza for your silence…?”

Technorati Tags: Bike Lanes, Dawn Zimmer, Delivery Cars, Domino's Pizza, Hoboken, Illegal Parking, New Jersey, NJ, PHOTO OF THE DAY, photography, Reader Mail, reader photo

In Hoboken, maybe we need to explain curbs in writing?

I’ll tell ya – I stumbled upon something interesting recently.

When colors don’t do the trick – why not words?

For one, I noticed some writing on a corner of Washington Street that said “Not a spot.”

My initial thoughts were, “Cool! Instead of confusing fruity yellow, blue and red curbs, why not just put it in plain English that you can’t park here?”

Then I realized as I saw other markings – that it was vendor info for this weekend’s Hoboken Fall Arts & Music Festival. Drat.

But I think this may work – as I spotted another curb marking on Park Ave. – indicting (in plain English) “The curb is here (arrow.)” Maybe this will help stupid parking on the sidewalk tickets?

Who wants to start a petition for written curb advisories?

Technorati Tags: Curbs, Hoboken, New Jersey, NJ, Parking, PHOTO OF THE DAY, photography, Writing

Hertz on Demand car sharing in Hoboken has issues

Taking street parking away from residents for Hertz on Demand (a for-profit corporation) has definitely seen it’s share of complaints from residents. Parking has not gotten easier in Hoboken (except on major holidays at around 4:15am in the pouring rain), and no matter how fool-proof anyone thinks this “plan” is – someone always finds a way to botch it.

Like this nimrod who parked the Hertz on Demand toy-car close to the intersection here at 11th and Hudson – scraping against a bollard and endangering pedestrians.

I still think they should figure out a way to give these parking spots back to car-owning residents – and put the Hertz cars in private garages somewhere. People have to stop getting spoiled because these rental cars are just a block or two from their apartments (walking does a body good), and the local government ought to stay out of private enterprise.

Oh – the car was parked all day yesterday without a ticket – but received a summons today.

Technorati Tags: Botched, Hertz Corner Cars, Hertz on Demand, Hoboken, Hudson Street, Illegal Parking, New Jersey, NJ, Summons, tickets, Traffic