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May 5, 2008
I was corralled this morning.
This is going to take a little explaining - fortunately google provides maps, and I know how to make dots.
Here's the Legend:
The green dots represent the path I take to the train - by foot.
Te red dot represents a huge parking garage that I have to walk through
The blue dots represent many angry morning drivers who have just sat in traffic in the Battery Tunnel.
Washington Street is this teeny, tiny passageway around the parking garage. I don't even know how cars know this street exists. It's so small that it has no traffic controls: no police presence, no traffic light, and no stop sign. It's been a delicate understanding between the masses of people crossing this street into the parking garage and the cars both leaving the parking garage and driving down Washington street.
This morning as I crossed the entrance to the Battery Tunnel ( which is an expansive 7 lane exit ) there was a police officer on the other side waving a bright orange flag. The flags intent was to steer the crowd of pedestrians onto the new walkway. This walkway even extends across Washington Street - which now has a crosswalk painted onto it. There's still no stop sign, but there is a bright new crosswalk - now the cars speeding down Washington Street know where the pedestrians are going to be, and can aim accordingly.
Some folks were not so easily corralled and continued walking in the street, taking care to avoid potential accidents. Me? I'd like to live to take a sip of my morning chai.
Posted by lysa at May 5, 2008 9:42 AM
Comments
I saw the same deal this morning. About 10 of us were walking down the street instead of on the sidewalk or whatever. The traffic cop yelled at all 10 of us to get on that walkway, all 10 of us promptly removed our cheapskate ipod headphones..and then promptly ignored him and walked in our merry lemming-like way. Habit will be the death of humanity.
Posted by: booboo at May 5, 2008 10:24 AM
Attempting to corral new yorkers? Pedestrian new yorkers? On a Monday morning no less? Whose idea was this??!
Posted by: Kbee at May 5, 2008 11:08 AM
Wow the creative effort here is admirable. All be it a little too insightful. I bet this is the kind of map and details Lee Harvey Oswald had to work with.
After that lemmings reference all I see in my head is a bunch of spiky haired ppl looking around together then pushing on in defiance.
Posted by: Mario at May 5, 2008 11:27 AM
J-walking: an artform that originated in New York that has been copied in cities across the continental U.S.. It has only been recently recognized that J-walking has been proven perfected in the streets of Pittsburgh, where pedestrians are often seen inches from a bus's bumper flipping the bird and yelling "Pedestrian's have the Right-a-way n'at. You friggin' jagoff!" at the driver (even though they are nowhere near a cross walk). You see, where New Yorkers typically ignore the man, Pittsburghers spit in the face of the man and then rub it in with an accent so foul that it would stop traffic in f'ing Jersey.
Posted by: Scottie at May 5, 2008 6:13 PM
See, if you'd just brought your shovel or axe to work with you, your path would have miraculously cleared.
Posted by: Robyn at May 5, 2008 6:49 PM
It's like herding cats...
Posted by: Reid at May 6, 2008 7:32 PM