Are the city’s powers that be conspiring to rid Brooklyn sidewalks of scooters? Yes, according to a poster on the Forum who says the mayor’s office directed the police to “get them all off the sidewalks last week.” When we walked down a stretch of Third Street on Sunday, there were a number of scoots and motorcycles parked on the sidewalk (like the ones above), but a couple of guys we talked to who live on the street said they’d noticed some scooters being impounded last week, which “happens from time to time.” An officer from the 78th Precinct said that as far as she knows, the precinct hasn’t been ratcheting up pressure on scooter owners who park on sidewalks. “I don’t think we’re doing it any more lately than usual,” said Office Ashby. “We tend to respond to complaints from home owners.” Whether or not cops have been towing more scooters than usual lately, we sympathize with the plight of two-wheelers who don’t want to see their rides wrecked by parking in the street. And it doesn’t seem like taking up a bit of sidewalk on a wide thoroughfare like Third Street really gets in anyone’s way. But beyond that, as one person on the Forum commented, “Here’s an enlightened idea for the Mayor’s office… just provide safe and legal scooter parking SOMEWHERE and watch the scooters in that area just fly off the sidewalks!”
Scooter Parking [Forum]