I would encourage anyone who is disappointed with this Daily News article to write a letter to the editor.
The author's email is
rschapiro@nydailynews.comLetters to the Editor can be sent to:
voicers@edit.nydailynews.comI would like to share the "Letter to the Editor" that I sent today:
Dear Rich Schaprio,
Your Daily News article today entitled "Jackson Heights Angry as city's Parking Ticket Capital" is utterly irresponsible. I am asking for an immediate correction of the heavily biased and inaccurate tone of the article. Please forward this email to your editor.
I am a Jackson Heights resident. I started a group (Western Jackson Heights Alliance) with fellow neighbors last year to combat traffic congestion in our neighborhod. One of the fundamental problems contributing to traffic in our area is illegal parking. We have thousands of cars and trucks who double park, block the box, park in bus lanes, delivery zones, and crosswalks.
Our group, like many others, has asked the local police precinct to increase enforcement of parking violations to help reduce traffic congestion. These tickets are a measure of the level of parking abuse and dysfunction, not some attempt by the local precinct to create busy work. It is a direct response to a request from the community.
I am disappointed that this article is titled "Jackson Heights angry as city's parking ticket capital" while not quoting a single Jackson Heights resident. A more accurate headline would be "Jackson Heights Angry about Traffic Congestion, Relieved about Increased Enforcement".
The tone of the article suggests that residents of Jackson Heights are "angry" about these parking violation tickets. However, the reality is that many Jackson Heights residents are encouraged by the increased enforcement of parking violations in our area. Jackson Heights has the lowest car ownership ratio in Queens. The vast majority of Jackson Heights residents do not use or own a car. Unfortunately, our area still suffers from severe traffic congestion because of overwhelming demand, poor street engineering and lack of parking management.
In an attempt to address this issue with city officials, our group worked with transportation and traffic experts to identify remedies to the problem of traffic congestion. The three 'E"s have been identified as essential to fixing it: Enforcement, Education, and Engineering. We are happy that the NYPD has increased enforcement for the second straight year in our area. We have recently received $800,000 in city and federal funding to study traffic engineering in Jackson Heights. The study is underway and results should be forthcoming. A key part of reducing traffic congestion is educating the public about parking violations and how they contribute to traffic congestion. Your article sadly undermines the tremendous effort to educate the public about how their behavior impacts the community.
Please reconsider the title and tone of this article. I expect a full and fast response about how this article was constructed and how it can be repaired. Thank you in advance for the consideration.
Will Sweeney