Boulevard of Broken Bones

The cops here in Forest Hills have no balls. It’s pissing me off. At every intersection, about twice a minute, I see cars speeding past red lights, well after they’ve turned to red. Like, five-Mississippi red. This neighborhood is sick with moving violations. Today, walking home from the gym, I was nearly hit by a car turning a corner. I silently cursed myself for not watching what I was doing, but wondered how I could have missed seeing that car sooner. Here’s how: it was going the wrong way down a one-way. Must have pulled out of the garage under the apartment building, and the driver didn’t want to waste his precious time making a left and three rights to go around the block. So he sped the wrong way down the street and just swerved around this stupid bastard who didn’t think to look that way before he crossed.

And here’s why I think the cops around here are ball-less pieces of shit: They see it all and they do nothing. Wait. Check that. They actually do take action. They walk and drive their beats along Queens Boulevard, Yellowstone Boulevard, and Austin Street writing out bundles of tickets for parking violations and expired inspection stickers. Fucked priorities, I reckon.

Walking along the street and writing up tickets for parked cars is easy. Fish in a barrel. With no driver around, there’s no one to question you, no one to raise any contention. But pulling over a driver who’s past a red light at 65 m.p.h. in a 40, pulls out a one-way street, or throws it in reverse to race down an entire block to grab that parking space… that takes nerve. The cop would have to come face to face with a living being. There might be confrontation. There might even be an argument. Hell, the driver might even have a criminal record!

What a fucking insult to the community this is. I’ve read the newspapers and seen the stories on the news; I know the neighborhood where I live has a weird confluence dangerous roads. (Go Google “Queens Boulevard of Death.” Go ahead. I’ll wait.) I know that before I move away I will see some people die on these streets. And I know they won’t be killed by parked cars.

The next time I see a cop ticketing empty cars while tires screech around him or her, I have to say something.

[posted with ecto]

On iTunes right now: Say Mama from the album Rebel Heart by Vincent, Gene

Comments

[walein]

I grew up in NYC. You, my friend are in Queens...you my friend are in the "badlands."
That's a place that never saw the good wholesome alegorical tales told in the 80s...those theatres weren't working then.