By:Jeff Lipton
If there's any doubt, just ask a motorist who was handcuffed last Friday and brought into the station house after a double-parking incident that led to a confrontation with police, officials said.
Fourth Precinct police have been closely watching traffic-clogged Central Avenue, cracking down on scofflaws in an effort to keep traffic moving smoothly and to allow emergency vehicles to easily pass by.
Police began strictly enforcing the double-parking law in October 2002, when two teams of two patrolmen were assigned to write tickets for the infraction and issue warnings to others who were about to park in illegal zones. The crackdown has focused on Fridays and Sundays, when traffic is at its worst.
Police and Cedarhurst Village traffic-enforcement agents continue to hand out summonses. "Central Avenue is a narrow street to begin with," said Deputy Inspector Thomas Carroll of the Fourth Precinct. "If you've got cars parked on both sides of the street and the driver is coming down the street in a Hummer, you've got a problem. It makes the road all but impassable."
Last Friday, at about 11:30 a.m., a driver was double-parked on Central, near Carman Avenue, when a police officer approached her and asked her for her license and registration. The driver refused the officer's request, according to Carroll, and the officer had no choice but to make an arrest. The driver, witnesses said, was hysterical and crying, and a small crowd gathered, becoming somewhat sympathetic to the driver.
"Rather than have a major argument, where a crowd was gathering in the street, the important thing was to handle this in a calmer atmosphere," Carroll said. The woman was taken to the Fourth Precinct station house, where she was charged with obstructing government administration and resisting arrest.
Officer Robin Webb, a crime analyst for the precinct, explained that officer Steve Ryan asked the woman, identified as Diawantie Ram, 45, of Richmond Hill, for her license and registration three times, but she refused, locking herself in her car.
Carroll said that when someone double-parks, the police officer has the option of issuing a ticket for operating a vehicle at an unsafe speed, 0 mph in a 30-mph zone. The officer is required to ask for a license and registration to verify that the car belongs to the driver. "If a person refuses that option, the officer can make an arrest," Carroll said. "The officer has no choice under the Vehicle and Traffic Law. The driver must display a license when requested by an officer. It's mandatory. It's not an option."
He said that police have received complaints about the constant double-parking on Central Avenue and have responded by stepping up enforcement.
Central Avenue is usually busy on Friday afternoons, but was even more so last week, on the day known as "black Friday," considered the busiest shopping day of the year.
The news of the arrest quickly spread among shopkeepers, business leaders and village officials. "It's murder out there today," said Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise. "Cars were double-parked all over the place. I understand that when the cop asked her for her license and registration, she flipped out. Four to five police cars arrived. It caused quite a ruckus on Central Avenue."
According to shopkeepers, the woman allegedly told the police officer, who was standing in front of her car, "I hope you're not writing me a ticket. I'm driving away."
The officer then asked her to step out of the vehicle, and she refused. "He then put the woman in the police car and drove away," said Bob Block, of the Jewelry Showroom, who agreed that the officer appeared to have no choice but to arrest her. "I couldn't believe it. I saw it with my own eyes."
"The cops were very nice about it," said Ivan Greenberg, of the Davey Shop. Greenberg said that double-parking has been "one of the plagues" of shopping districts, including Cedarhurst. "The police over here have been trying to cut down on it," Block said. "It becomes a real hazard when you are driving and pulling up and passing a double-parked vehicle."
Block added, "We need a little more courtesy and more safety."
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