The Squeak in Review - An End to Illegal Parking Under the Shade of the Flatbush Trees

You wanna get stuff done in this crazy town you gotta squeak like a mofo. There are so many moving parts to this City, and so usually you need buckets of WD40.

So it was heartening to learn that a single well-written letter solved a problem that has been irking me and others for way, way too long.

If you're the type that pays attention to things, and you probably are since you're reading this now, you've surely noticed the sadly neglected green sheetmetal Flatbush Trees that grimly greet you as you enter our fair nabe from the north near the Q/B/S Prospect Park station.

And if you're the sort prone to outrage, you might have noticed the utter disregard with which MTA employees park their personal vehicles on the sidewalk, as if to say "this wouldn't fly in a nice neighborhood, but clearly you won't mind." And it's right across from the Garden and the Park. So you'd think somebody would have put an end to the selfishness long ago. Not so. Until now.

Neighbors on their own had tried to stop it. Some like PLG'er Kendall Christiansen went as far as creating an org dedicated to the prospect of spiffying up that triangular corner, trees and all; he called it Flatbush-Gateway. Community Board 9 got involved a couple years ago, getting nowhere through the usual channels of Community Affairs types at the MTA and NYCT. Fellow blogman PLOG made this nifty Youtube proposal about the site as well PLOG's Vid. Nothing seemed to change until CB9 District Manager Pearl Miles sent off a steamy letter to the head of NYC Transit, Tom Prendergast, and apparently the right squeak hit the right wheel and before you know it, the illegally parked cars are gone, leaving room for a so-called "passive park" in their wake. Here's a couple pics I took just today:

Way to go, Pearl, and everyone who squeaked along with her. This line from her letter was especially squeakalishish:

We are outraged by the display of total disregard for the residents of this community by the employees of the NYC Transit Authority who blatantly park their cars on the sidewalk at this location, place their "transit vest" on the dashboard of their vehicle, as if that legitimizes the illegal parking of their vehicles...Community Board 9 is respectfully requesting that you use your good offices to put a stop to this practice...

Now I ask you, in all seriousness - what issue gets you steamed? Speeding Dollar Vans? Abandoned Cars & Buildings? Guns? Gangs? Drug dealers? Moses Fried? I'm talking about stuff that can safely be called universally reviled - not the sorts of community-splitting issues that have the potential to divide us along racial, cultural or money lines. Things EVERYONE would like to see changed. The gets-down-into-your-craw-and-won't-let-you-sleep kinda stuff. And the wouldn't-it-be-so-much-nicer-if stuff. Bring it out into the open. Air it here if you like. Take up the cause. Enlist some help. And don't let go til you get the wrong righted and the right rightier.

Right?

The Q's got your back, Jack. And Diane.