LISTEN: Debriefing Brooklyn’s first placard abuse town hall

September 5, 2019 Brooklyn Eagle Podcast

A car with a city-issued permit parked illegaly. Eagle photo by Kelly Mena

Share this:

Subscribe to Brooklyn this Week:

A Twitter account even exists dedicated to exposing instances of it. It’s a citywide issue, but here in Brooklyn, Borough President Eric Adams addressed it at a town hall on Tuesday, where he gave out his cell phone number to collect complaints from residents.

“We can’t surrender to dysfunctionality. Dysfunctionality must surrender to us,” Adams told Brooklyn This Week. “I believe government must be like the old-fashioned medical doctor. We need to be on the ground.”

Blythe Austin, a volunteer with Families for Safe Streets who attended the meeting, said she was not satisfied with Adams’ messages and actions. Adams allows several Borough Hall staffers to park illegally in the plaza outside their office, and said he cannot currently change this practice.

“I thought it was a very frustrating meeting, quite frankly. I thought that the borough president was defensive and offered excuses, and really wanted to point fingers at other people being responsible for this, including members of the public,” Austin said. “The public does not just want to be heard. We want to be responded to.”

Listen to the episode to hear the full conversations.

Interview with Kelly Mena at 1:19
Interview with Blythe Austin at 4:43
Interview with Eric Adams at 9:46

Our host Lawrence Madsen is a native New Yorker. He graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in History. He is a volunteer leader with the disaster relief group Team Rubicon.

Subscribe to Brooklyn this Week: