Fighting With Traffic Cops @ New Yankee Stadium Opener
The above is a nice picture, huh? It’s the National Anthem being sung before the first official game at the new Yankee Stadium today. The picture was taken at 1:03 pm ET. And…well…if it was up to the NYPD traffic cops, I may have never had a chance to take it.
As shared previously, I left my house early this morning to drive up to the Yankees game today. Traffic on the George Washington Bridge was a little slow and I ended up getting into the Bronx around 10:15 am ET.
Now, my usual plan when driving to a game is to head south on Jerome Avenue, make a left on 165th Street, then make a right on River Avenue and park in the River Avenue Garage (on River Avenue between 164th Street and 162nd Street). In fact, for today, I purchased a pre-paid parking spot in the River Avenue Garage – knowing that it was going to be a crazy day in the Bronx, etc.
So, around 10:20 am EST, I’m on Jerome Avenue, looking to make that left on to 165th Street. However, a NYPD traffic cop (who looked a lot like Lou Costello in an orange vest) had another idea. He would not allow me to make the left and insisted that I continue south on Jerome Avenue.
“O.K.,” I thought to myself, “I’ll just make a left on 164th Street instead – it’s no big deal.” But, it was a “no-go” on 164th Street – as NYPD had another cop at that light who also would not allow me to make a left from Jerome Avenue. And, he also instructed me to continue south on Jerome Avenue.
Great, now, at this point, I’m passing Yankee Stadium – and driving right into the mess/mob around the ballpark. When I got to East 161st Street, finally, NYPD allowed me to make a left off Jerome Avenue.
Now, the only problem here is that you’re not allowed to make a left, off of 161st Street, on to River Avenue (where I needed to be to reach my pre-paid parking spot). As a result, I had to continue on 161st Street, past River Avenue, and go up to the Walton Avenue crossing – in order to get over to the west-bound side of 161st Street (with the plan of taking that back down to River Avenue). Of course, it was a gridlock nightmare at the cross-over and it took a good while to get over to the other side of 161st Street.
In any event, I’m finally able to get back down 161st Street and I reach River Avenue. At this point, I’m feeling better – knowing that, once I make a right on River Avenue, I’ll soon be in the parking garage. However, at the corner of 161st Street and River Avenue is another NYPD traffic cop and he’s standing in the street – yelling at me that I can’t make a right and that I have to continue straight on 161st Street…which would put me right back at Yankee Stadium, by Babe Ruth Plaza, back in thick of the mob and fan foot-traffic, and heading west, away from Yankee Stadium and towards the Macombs Dam Bridge and Manhattan!
Now, keep in mind, at this point, thanks to NYPD and their traffic decisions, I’ve wasted close to a half-hour chaotically circling around Yankee Stadium and not being allowed to get where I need to be – and where I pre-paid to be, etc. So, I lost it. I lowered the car (driver) side-window and yelled back at the cop – saying “No. No way! I pre-paid for the lot on River Avenue. I have to go this way to get there.”
To this, the officer answered “No. You have to go straight.”
There was no way I was letting this go. And, I shouted back at him. “No. I have to make a right here. I’m pre-paid for the lot over there,” I said as I pointed to my right.
Finally, he gave up and said “O.K., make the right.”
Not wasting any time, I made the right and quickly got on line to enter the lot on River Avenue.
While on line to get in, another NYPD traffic cop came over to my car and said “You can only park here if you’ve pre-paid.” Hearing this, I looked at her, smiled, and said “No problem. I’m pre-paid.” (Wow. How many hurdles does one have to jump over to get into the River Avenue Garage?)
Being done with all this hassle, we parked the car. After quickly picking-up something to eat at our favorite deli on 161st Street, we were sitting in our seats, inside the Stadium, at 11:30 am ET. Hey, it only took us 70 minutes to get from the corner of Jerome Avenue and 167th Street to our seats on the corner of 161st Street and River Avenue.
That’s 70 minutes to travel a distance of about 3,000 feet – and about half of that time was thanks to those who are supposed to be making traffic easier around Yankee Stadium. Oh, well, at least they didn’t cause us to miss any of the pre-game ceremonies – no matter how hard they tried.
The NYPD (and most other police forces, for that matter) can be so damn annoying sometimes. I understand that they have a job to do but it almost seems like they enjoy being ball-busters.
i’ve never been a cop, but anytime i worked in public service (for example as a clerk) i would almost go out of my way to bust peoples balls, because other people before them had done so to me…so yes, i can vouch that they do enjoy busting peoples balls lol i have a few NYPD friends and they say thats the only part that can get them through the day sometimes (working in crappy neighborhoods)
i have a few NYPD friends and they say thats the only part that can get them through the day sometimes (working in crappy neighborhoods)
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You’re friends with them so I guess it’s ok that they tell you that. They shouldn’t admit that to anyone else because it only reinforces the stereotype that cops abuse power because they can. Not cool. It breeds resentment among those they are supposed to be serving and protecting.
/end sermon
they aren’t doing anything wrong IMO, im talking more about instances like this where they could just let steve make a right and it doesnt matter(and wouldnt affect them), but na im gonna break his balls and make him drive around the block for an hour…i didn’t mean to come off as if they were abusing their power or anything like that…im referring more to breaking balls within the system then abusing power
Park at the Rupert Parking Garage. It was the easiest thing in the world. Drive down I 87 get off at 161st st go over the highway turn right into the garage. When I was leaving, the Garage exit, put me right on I87 north heading into the I87/I95 Split. I live outside of Hartford and it took me about an hour and 45 minutes to get home, from the time I got in my car..
they aren’t doing anything wrong IMO, im talking more about instances like this where they could just let steve make a right and it doesnt matter(and wouldnt affect them), but na im gonna break his balls and make him drive around the block for an hour…i didn’t mean to come off as if they were abusing their power or anything like that…im referring more to breaking balls within the system then abusing power
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I guess we come at it from different sides. I don’t see the point in a cop breaking Steve’s balls over a right turn. Sure they’re not doing anything so wrong but it’s just pointless anyway. If their lives are enhanced by being pricks for the fun of it, that’s kinda sad in my opinion.
Whatever happened to common courtesy and cops being the good guys? I know they don’t get paid enough relative to other cops and I know they encounter far more dangerous situations than cops in other parts of this area, but those aren’t good enough excuses for busting balls in my opinion. If you can’t be civil as a civil servant, you picked the wrong line of work.
most people who choose NYPD don’t have much of a choice when it comes to their line of work, otherwise they’d be doing something else…it’s a really horrible job
It isn’t so much the cop breaking Steve’s balls, it’s just trying to have some semblance of order around the Stadium. We have all seen how things get over there. We’ve all seen people do stupid things to try and circumvent traffic (not saying that’s the case here, I’m just sayin’). For all the cop knows Steve may be lying. And there are people who try to park in a prepaid garage when they haven’t prepaid.
So many different scenarios, I can understand why the cops around the stadium are the way they are. And is also the reason why I haven’t driven to the Stadium in years. Too many hassles, I’d rather take mass transit.
and FWIW, if the city would pay the cops in proportion with the amount of crap they had to deal with, then you would see more “good guy” cops because there would be more “good guys” applying for those jobs and u can weed out the guys just lookin to earn a pension and treatin the job like its just another job…just food for thought is all, ill leave it at that
most people who choose NYPD don’t have much of a choice when it comes to their line of work, otherwise they’d be doing something else…it’s a really horrible job
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NYPD or NYPD Traffic?
1) So many different scenarios, I can understand why the cops around the stadium are the way they are. And is also the reason why I haven’t driven to the Stadium in years. Too many hassles, I’d rather take mass transit.
2) if the city would pay the cops in proportion with the amount of crap they had to deal with, then you would see more “good guy” cops because there would be more “good guys” applying for those jobs and u can weed out the guys just lookin to earn a pension and treatin the job like its just another job
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1) Raf, I agree completely. I grew up in NYC, lived in Brooklyn for a few years and now live in the Bronx. I’ve always had the option of taking a subway or bus to the game. Unfortunately for Steve, his trek begins in Jersey and it’s a lot tougher. Public transportation should be used whenever possible when going to Yankee Stadium.
2) Corey, I agree 100%. They don’t get paid enough and you are right that it leads to this type of attitude for some of the guys on the force.
I still don’t think people should bust balls just because but that’s just my own personal opinion.
To be clear I wasn’t calling Steve out on his decision to drive, I was just giving my personal observation as to why I don’t drive to the Stadium anymore. Steve is hosed no matter where he goes (mass transit, ferry, driving), and I’m sure this year will be his worst ever.
To be clear I wasn’t calling Steve out on his decision to drive, I was just giving my personal observation as to why I don’t drive to the Stadium anymore.
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Of course! I know what you meant and didn’t think you were calling him out.
lardin wrote:
Thanks for the tip. I’ll have to look into that.
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