Residents of a mostly Hasidic Williamsburg neighborhood are upset over what they claim was an insulting move by the Department of Transportation. When they woke up Saturday morning, many noticed that they had received parking tickets on their cars over night.
This was odd, as when they parked their cars the night before, their spots were totally legal. Now, the street is marked as “No Standing any Time”. This would usually be just a small error for some DOT administrators to sort out, but this time, the move borders on discrimination. Saturday is the weekly day of rest, or, Shabbos in Judaism.
Isaac Abraham, a Williamsburg Community Leader and candidate for NYC Council 33rd District, spoke to Jewkey about the DOT move. “Not only did DOT change these signs without any notification to the area residents in advance, but they had the Chutzpah to change them on a weekend (Friday Night) when the Jewish residents could not move their cars”, he notes. “All the residents had parked their cars LEGALLY on Friday, not planning to move their vehicles for the weekend.”
A demonstration was planned for Sunday for all affected residents in front of Schaeffer Landing, on Kent Avenue. We don’t have word on how that went, but hopefully their voices are being heard loud and clear. This one smells like gold, old-fashioned DOT.
