By Larry Celona, Jamie Schram and Bob Fredericks
The New York Post
NEW YORK — The Orthodox Jewish community in Williamsburg was furious yesterday over the NYPD’s Passover ticket and tow blitz, in which more than 100 tickets were written and about 30 vehicles hooked.
“We have a lot of respect for the Police Department, but we’re looking for just a little sensitivity,” complained Isaac Abraham, a leader of the neighborhood’s Orthodox community.
“Summonses I can see, but there’s no reason for the towing. You’re towing a guy’s car when you know he can’t move it,” he said.
Alternate-side parking rules were suspended Tuesday and Wednesday for the first two days of Passover - when observant Jews do not work or drive - but cops still wrote a slew of tickets for other offenses.
A bitter Zev Deutsch, a married father of eight, had to shell out $205 for towing and storage to get his family’s Toyota Sienna minivan from the pound and faces two tickets, at $115 each, for parking in a no-standing zone.
“It ruined my holiday,” Deutsch fumed. “I’m calling all around and wasting my day when I should be with my family. This is a hard pill to swallow.”
Abraham said the towing was especially tough on people who traveled to Brooklyn to celebrate and didn’t have the cash or credit cards to get their cars back.
“If a father of nine kids has to raise $350 cash early in the morning, that’s tough,” he griped.
“And a lot of our guests that come in from upstate don’t even know what a credit card is.”
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said no cars were towed for alternate-side-of-the-street violations.
“Parking rules that are never suspended, such as hydrants, bus stops and no parking during rush hours, for example, remain in effect, are not suspended and may result in summonses and/or tows,” Browne said.
A police source said the cars were towed for violations involving no parking, no standing and expired registrations.
Abraham charged that the unprecedented towing blitz violated “a gentlemen’s understanding” between the Orthodox community and the NYPD that had been discussed at community-outreach meetings.
Copyright 2011 N.Y.P. Holdings, Inc.