MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, the Mayor of New York, is being accused by angry citizens of raising revenue by ordering a blitz on petty infringements of city ordinances.
The Daily News tabloid has been running a “Ticket Madness” campaign against the fines, highlighting the trend with a daily “Silly Summons”.
Among the most trivial offences that have drawn stiff fines are taking up two seats on the Subway, sitting on a milk crate, improperly bundling newspapers for recycling and feeding pigeons. In Brooklyn, police have been ordered to write tickets for cyclists who coast with their feet off the pedals.
Yoav Kashdia, 22, an Israeli tourist, fell asleep on a train to Queens. “I feel something and I wake up and I see everyone staring at me,” he said. “I was so embarrassed. I asked: ‘What did I do?’ ” Two policemen escorted him off the train and fined him $50 for taking up two seats.
Alexander Ortiz, 35, the owner of a Bronx-based limousine company, was fined $25 by a city sanitation department official for putting old newspapers for collection in a cardboard box. He was told that they should be bundled and tied with string or placed in a clear plastic bag.
Jesse Taveras, 19, who was sitting on a milk crate outside his hair salon in the Bronx, was given a ticket for “unauthorised use of a milk crate” under an obscure city bylaw.
Pedro Nazario, of Manhattan, was feeding breadcrumbs to pigeons on his 86th birthday, something that he has done every day since his retirement. A policeman issued him with a summons for violating Health Code 431-22, which forbids feeding pigeons in public. After complaints from neighbours, police revoked the summons. “Feeding the birds is therapy for me,” Mr Nazario said. “I have all the old people sicknesses. When I feed the birds, I don’t feel nothing. It helps me.”
Crystal Rivera, 18, who is six months pregnant, was given a $50 fine for sitting on a Subway staircase. She said: “I told (the policewoman), ‘I’m pregnant. My back hurts and I’m tired.’ And she was like: ‘Well, you can’t sit there.’ It’s not right.”
The ticket blitz has been ordered by the city as part of an attempt to boost the productivity of policemen on the beat, but many New Yorkers believe that it is a way of raising revenue at a time when the city is in debt. The Mayor’s department denies this and the Mayor is unrepentant. “The city council passes laws; it is the police department’s job to enforce them,” he said.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk
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The Daily News tabloid has been running a “Ticket Madness” campaign against the fines, highlighting the trend with a daily “Silly Summons”.
Among the most trivial offences that have drawn stiff fines are taking up two seats on the Subway, sitting on a milk crate, improperly bundling newspapers for recycling and feeding pigeons. In Brooklyn, police have been ordered to write tickets for cyclists who coast with their feet off the pedals.
Yoav Kashdia, 22, an Israeli tourist, fell asleep on a train to Queens. “I feel something and I wake up and I see everyone staring at me,” he said. “I was so embarrassed. I asked: ‘What did I do?’ ” Two policemen escorted him off the train and fined him $50 for taking up two seats.
Alexander Ortiz, 35, the owner of a Bronx-based limousine company, was fined $25 by a city sanitation department official for putting old newspapers for collection in a cardboard box. He was told that they should be bundled and tied with string or placed in a clear plastic bag.
Jesse Taveras, 19, who was sitting on a milk crate outside his hair salon in the Bronx, was given a ticket for “unauthorised use of a milk crate” under an obscure city bylaw.
Pedro Nazario, of Manhattan, was feeding breadcrumbs to pigeons on his 86th birthday, something that he has done every day since his retirement. A policeman issued him with a summons for violating Health Code 431-22, which forbids feeding pigeons in public. After complaints from neighbours, police revoked the summons. “Feeding the birds is therapy for me,” Mr Nazario said. “I have all the old people sicknesses. When I feed the birds, I don’t feel nothing. It helps me.”
Crystal Rivera, 18, who is six months pregnant, was given a $50 fine for sitting on a Subway staircase. She said: “I told (the policewoman), ‘I’m pregnant. My back hurts and I’m tired.’ And she was like: ‘Well, you can’t sit there.’ It’s not right.”
The ticket blitz has been ordered by the city as part of an attempt to boost the productivity of policemen on the beat, but many New Yorkers believe that it is a way of raising revenue at a time when the city is in debt. The Mayor’s department denies this and the Mayor is unrepentant. “The city council passes laws; it is the police department’s job to enforce them,” he said.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk
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