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May 2, 2013– By Steven E. Greer
At 5:00 PM on Thursday, March 2nd, on a beautiful day, the entire micro-community of North End Avenue was thrown into disarray by a fleet of three huge tour buses. They were hired by a group that was holding a two-day conference at the Conrad Hotel. they were doubled parked in the no-standing zone, turning lane, of North End by Murray Street.
The park’s PEP office was called, but no officers showed up. When called back, the person answering the phone, officer Green, stated “They showed up and didn’t see anything”. That is hard to believe since the entire block was occupied. PEP Captain Ed Falcon was “not available”, nor was any supervising sergeant.
The executive office of the Conrad Hotel was called and Maddie Gheorghita answered. She too claimed, “I went outside and saw nothing….did the buses have “Conrad” on them?”
Only after this author went to the hotel office and ran into GM Robert Rechtermann in person, did two junior staff eventually come to the outdoor location 20-minutes later, but accomplished nothing. The buses stayed put. At 5:40 PM, the group of business people hiring the buses loaded and they caravan left.
This incident was disturbing to the staff of the North End Grill since the tall buses were blocking the entire view of the dining room and outdoor area. Also, this author was unable to enjoy his ice-cold, perfect 33-degree, Kölsch draught beer at the out door dining section.
On a serious note, when one group of buses parking illegally is condoned, it opens the floodgates for the dozens of charter companies taking tourists to the 9/11 Memorial. All of the hard work last year that accomplished the removal of the buses is in jeopardy.
Please email us if you spot this problem.
Also, the parks PEP should be contacted at (212) 417-3100.
The city DOT also wants to receive photos of the buses and license plates. Send photos to jkraus@dot.nyc.gov
