 |
This came in via E-Mail:
My wife and I were riding bicycles in the late afternoon along Belt Parkway last Saturday. As we approached exit 13, we saw lots of cars parked on either side of the bike path. We were not sure what the deal was, and there were lots of people in the area near Floyd Bennett. As we rode back cars were backing up and existing right from the bike path. As you can imagine from the pictures attached, it was quite dangerous and awful for the bicycle riders like us. We did see a few of these vehicles being ticketed, but the number of cars seen within that area was unbelievable.
After some quick research I found videos and pictures of an event last Saturday at Floyd Bennett Field called “Duck Curry Competition 2008″.
 |
From the pictures and video it seemed like a great event, but I’m not going to be talking about the event. This is about people parking on the bike path and causing a dangerous situation
More than likely there was plenty of parking inside Floyd Bennett Field for the event but we as people are lazy and didn’t want to drive all the way around for the event.
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY8g5XB1iR8[/video]
The same thing happened on Labor day. Cars were parking on the bike path and just about any place people felt like parking. This was near Floyd Bennet field. It looked like people were too lazy to go in the real parking lot. Nobody was giving any tickets and we saw a police car just drive by. Looking at the people I would say almost none of them were born in the U.S. They were Hispanic and probably from Mexico and South America. If you come to America you should obey the laws. Maybe we can get Palin the pitbull after them. Just a joke.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
The gridlock and traffic nightmare created by this “Event” was beyond ridiculous. Myself & some friends spent over an hour stuck in traffic just to get over the bridge to the Rockaways. Thank god there was not an emergency anywhere in that area as no one could get through. What was even more bizarre was the fact that the Federal Park Police had the entrance road to the park barricaded, and were turning cars around at the end of Flatbush Avenue. Apparently they had a limit as to how many cars could enter the grounds, even though the parking lots appeared virtually empty. What was most disturbing is the fact that the NYPD was nowhere to be found the entire time I was in the area. There had to be hundreds of cars parking on the sidewalks, medians, and bike lanes with no regard for the law, and no response from law enforcement even though the Aviation & Highway Units are located nearby. Even the local businesses in the area had to guard against cars trying to enter their property to park. Very strange indeed. I would like to know the real reason for the lack of police presence. You can bet when the Irish Fair is held in the coming weeks, there will be a large police presence on site, and they will not tolerate cars parking wherever they please without being ticketed. Don’t all New Yorkers have to obey the same laws? I guess not.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
This event may have been called the Duck Curry Competition, but is seemed extremely similar to the Guyanese Family Fun Day Picnic that has been cancelled in previous years at Riis Park and Floyd Bennett Field the past couple of years for causing similar extreme overcrowding and massive traffic tie ups due to the large number of participants for the event. Maybe the name of the event was changed so that the National Park Service would grant them a permit for the event this year. Perhaps some digging could turn up a possible connection between the two events?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
That’s because, as we’ve seen, NYPD employees are not interested in enforcing the law when it comes to parking, because they break the traffic/parking laws so frequently themselves.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I don’t place any blame on the proud and heroic members of the NYPD for the inaction of this past weekend. I think the blame falls at the feet of our Billionaire Mayor, whose blatant pandering to certain groups of people likely forced our police officers to look the other way instead of enforcing the law because it wasn’t politically expedient for him. After all, we wouldn’t want to offend anyone, would we.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Ah..come on Mike is the best!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
This seems to happen a few times during the summer when they have these large events at Floyd Bennett Field. They never have enough police to supervise these events and control the people & the traffic. I suggest that you e-mail, write or call as many local pols and the people who run Gateway national park and complain whenever these traffic nightmares along Flatbush Ave occur.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Or you can avoid traveling on flatbush Ave when these events are planned
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
It is hard to avoid Flatbush coming home from Breezy to Marine park.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Difficult but not impossible
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Should not have to go out of my way because of law breakers. Enforce the law for everybody.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
My feelings exactly. When there are similar fairs for the Irish, German, or American Indians, there is a large contingent of police on hand to make sure that the event and the associated traffic is handled properly. No one can deny that there was a deliberate decision made by someone in power to have the police steer clear of this event, despite it being right on the doorstep of the NYPD Highway Patrol. Very interesting.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I saw the police ignore it with my own eyes. I thought for sure here comes the tickets, but nothing. They barely glanced at them. They must have had their orders. Like it has been written, try that at an Irish festival and see what happens.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I saw the police ignore it with my own eyes. I thought for sure here comes the tickets, but nothing. They barely glanced at them. They must have had their orders. Like it has been written, try that at an Irish festival and see what happens.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Oh please, have you ever driven the cross island on Blemont day???? I sincerely doubt race has anything to do with it The irish fair wouldn’t have so many people parking would eb impossible. the irish fair is boring its a bunch of bar tents & shopping, what exatly do either of those things have to do with being irish??
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
While I agree about the problem it should not have happened. You have an event at the park where once was the largest airpprt in the world and where parking is lavishly spread across the park ….. why was this parking be used?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
ha ha! are you folks sure it is the parking that is bothering you or having to navigate through so many “dark skinned or as you put it ,seemingly non american people.
The police is doing nothing because there is no problem with the event. If there were going to be problems then you can rest assured that they would have done something. Please! try not to be so nervous having to ride your ridiculously expensive bicycle or drive throught such obviously non american people. If you look closely at many of those vehicles and people or stop to speak to a few of them,you would be quite surprised that all of them have not only good jobs but are able to afford many of the things that you would not expect them to have.
As for being lazy,why don’t “you” do some digging and come up with the connection between the 2 events!!!…..By the way love the codespeak! “certain groups of people”,Palin the pitbull on them “”joke” “we as people lazy”…ha ha ha ha ha ha …………………
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Some solutions need to happen. Let’s all work together. Maybe, there is some local charter bus that is willing to do this trip to pick people up. I see a huge opportunity for profit, here. Have any of you tasted duck curry? You would park on the grass, too!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I don’t care what color ( dark skin or otherwise) or what type jobs they have. The fact is if people are parked illegally and impeding traffic they should be ticketed!. OH and navigating through black ,brown , yellow , red, white or any other color skin does not bother me if it did I would’nt live in New York city, so if anyone is trying to hint (as is usually done) that it is only because of the color of the groups skin that people on here are complaining, get over it because it’s not the problem,illegal parking is.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
i think it was ok because when other people have their occasions no one complains wen all the streets are blocked off, so maybe u should have consideration for those people and think that they can have their celebration and not have people talking about it like it was bad. i mean te parking situation was crazy but the parking lot was packed where were they to go….maybe should think from another perspective before assuming
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
As one who was caught in the traffic jam that day, I can confirm that the parking lots were far from full that day. There were acre’s & acre’s of empty paved area at Floyd Bennett Field that afternoon. The fact is that the Federal Park Police had the entrance road blocked to prevent access to the park. Apparently they thought the crowd had grown to unsafe levels, or perhaps the group was never authorized to have their event their in the first place. Although the event was given a different name this year, it appears to be the same event that was kicked out of Riis Park & Floyd Bennett Field a couple of years ago for overcrowding when the expected crowd grew from 4000 people to 40,000. The National Park Service even had to take out radio & print adds last year to inform people that there was to be no event at the airfield because the organizers were still advertising it even though they did not have a permit to do so, although I do not know if this was the case with this years event. This information about these past gatherings was readily available on the internet, and was printed in the New York Times as well. So what it all comes down to in the end is the known fact that hundreds of cars were parked illegally. That is quite different then when the proper authorities close or barricade a street for a parade, festival, or whatever, and provide a police presence to assure the safe flow of traffic around the event. And that’s not even taking into account the piles of trash that were visable for days after the event that were left behind where these cars were parked illegally. So what it comes down to in the end is just a blatent lack of respect for authority and fellow Brooklynites in general. No race, creed, or color played a part in this debacle.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Well, it took some time for the National Park Service/Department of Interior to respond to my complaint about this incident, but just as I suspected, there was no permit issued for this type of event that day as large gatherings such as what occurred are not permitted during the Summer months at that location,and it was held without the permission of the NPS.
There was a permit issued for a much smaller group to hold a Cricket match at Floyd Bennett Field that day, but it would appear that was just a ruse to allow a much larger group to take over the area that day for their Duck Curry Competition. The Department of Interior has stated that they intend to hold the permit holder accountable for their failure to uphold the terms of their permit.
It’s too bad thay can’t be held liable for all of the extra cost for the extra police officers that were brought in to deal with the problem as well as the cost of the sanitation personnel that had to clean up the extensive amount of trash that was strewn by the roadside by the hundreds of people who parked illegally that day. The NPS has also said that they will take steps to prevent similar mishaps in the future. Let’s hope they do not forget their promise by the time next Summer rolls around.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
How did you obtain that information?
How the efff were the organizers able to setup a stage, setup generators, setup speakers, and have all of these people drive in without NPS noticing!
You would think that NPS rangers would eventually walk up and say ….. so what are you doing here and they said…. oh nothing just a cricket game….Maybe duck curry gives you Jedi powers
[...] Original Post: Bikers Complain about Parking Everywhere During Duck Curry Competition [...]
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
wow… its one day out of the year….everyone needs to relax no one is going to get robbed theres no need to be afraid of something you dont comprehend…..and the park was full so there was no other place for ppl to park…besides there are illegal parking at parks all the time throughout the year… no one complains then, be consistent then argue…racism is a terrible thing…smh
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
The truth be told it was a large cultural event that happens once a year, and YES there was very limited parking. People “created” their own parking spaces due to this fact. New York is known all of the world for being a diverse place. We all need to have an open mind that OUR New York belongs to ALL of us! I have been to many cultural events outside of my own “ethnic race” or “ethnic culture” and I LOVE it! Maybe you should have taken the time to attend the event instead and find out WHY so many people wanted to attend. Have you ever been to the Macy’s Day Parade or St Patrick’s Day Parade or the San Gennaro…these events are massively over crowded…I just viewed the momentary over crowding as something that comes with the territory. All of these events are outside of my ethnic comfort zone and I attended and enjoyed myself! I just enjoy meeting new people and cultures because we have so much to learn from each other. The world is such a big place…to love and appreciate.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0