The mystery “illegal” parker of Pierrepont Street has broken his silence! To me! Exclusively!
In my last column, I reported on the controversy surrounding alleged parking permit abuse on Pierrepont Street. The problem is so bad along the strip between Henry and Hicks streets that the Brooklyn Heights Association and Community Board 2 have been looking into whether some drivers are misusing their permit parking privileges.
BHA Executive Director Judy Stanton claims that many government employees park with “impunity” often “storing” their cars over the weekend on Pierrepont. As a result, nearly two-dozen BHA members took to the street earlier this year to write down license plates of many of the vehicles in question.
But this week, one of the owners of one of said cars spoke out on the Brooklyn Heights Blog. And the owner, neighborhood attorney and disabled advocate T.K. Small, says he was outraged by the accusations.
“I am one of the individuals who parks with a permit on Pierrepont Street in ‘flagrant disregard’ of the regulations,” Small said. “Clearly people do not know what they are talking about! As a New Yorker with a disability, I have had a New York City-issued ‘parking permit for people with disabilities’ since 1997. The regulations and instructions on the back of the permit are perfectly clear in stating where it is valid.”
Small says that the BHA’s assertion that positively no one with a permit may park in the Heights’ “No Parking” areas is incorrect.
“I don’t know what law school they went to,” Small said, adding that he resents BHA members “scribbling down” his license plate number in their attempts to catch permit violations. He adds that “by me parking on [the ‘No Parking’ side] of the street, they have more opportunities to park on the other side.”
The cantankerous Small reached fever-pitch as he poked a hole in the argument that “No Parking” zones are necessary for street-cleaning purposes.
“The streets in Brooklyn Heights are not filthy. People don’t realize how great it is here.” He’s perplexed as to why residents — and the Brooklyn Heights Association — don’t “worry about things that are more important.” He also fears that the battle of Pierrepont Street is merely the first salvo in the BHA’s real goal: residential permit parking.
“If they want to go to [that] next step, let’s just put a gate around the neighborhood,” Small argued.
But before that imaginary (or real?) gate goes up, Heights folks still have more complaining to do over the parking quandary. The mania over the Pierrepoint parking has longtime state Sen. Martin Connor (D–Brooklyn Heights) engulfed in the “parking patrol’s” crosshairs.
When asked about his own alleged misuse of his parking permit in the “No Parking” area on Pierrepont, Connor says that he’s only parked there on rare occasions or to load and unload his car. He usually parks in a garage on Love Lane, which closes at 1 am. However, when the senator was caring for his sick mother in April, he felt he needed all-day access to his vehicle, so he parked on the street with his permit.
The Kitchen Sink
Five Guys Burgers and Fries — a national chain — is now open on Montague Street. Our pal Gianluca Martorelli, a Heights resident and publisher of the Ready to Order Guide, said he loved his burger and hot dog, but took issue with the chain’s tradition of allowing customers to toss shells from the free peanuts on the floor. “Where exactly is the fun of doing that?” he asked. “The floor was full of shells and of course nobody was cleaning that. They should put up a sign saying, ‘Please don’t do the same on the street!’” …
Speaking of Montague Street, with hipster sundries stores like Ricky’s and Korres opening soon, are we about to be overrun by lip gloss? …
Superblogger Claude Scales tells us that art exhibit “Still Flying,” sponsored by the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists’ Coalition (BWAC), will be on display at Empire–Fulton Ferry State Park until Aug. 29. …
Ran into Bruce Ratner’s head spokesman Loren Riegelhaupt at Floyd NY on Atlantic Avenue the other day as we all headed into our July 4 vacation. You know what? He’s a nice guy! …
This rule is posted at Clarks Corner Diner across from the subway station: No laptops.
Homer Fink is publisher of Brooklyn Heights Blog. The Brooklyn Paper is not affiliated with Brooklyn Heights Blog.
