Angry New Yorker

Semi-Daily Rants from New York City's Angry Man

"As I know more of mankind I expect less of them, and am ready now to call a man a good man, upon easier terms than I was formerly." - Dr. Samuel Johnson, Boswell, Life of Johnson, Sept. 1783

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Friday, September 12, 2003
 
How do you do business in a city like this?

While getting a bit of breakfast at the corner deli on Lexington and 40th St., I saw an NYPD Traffic tow truck towing someone away at 10:07 this morning. The sight's hardly unusual in NYC, but this was no ordinary tow truck. Rather it was one of those huge tow-trucks on steroids; the kind that can tow buses and other trucks. And it was towing away a Nectar Fizz delivery truck. Though the truck was certainly parked illegally, and I noticed a ticket on the windshield as they towed it, it wasn't double-parked or blocking traffic.
So, here's a company making a legitimate delivery during business hours in a city that never sleeps, but that makes it increasingly difficult each year to actually DO real business here. The cost to the delivery company of lost wages, lost time retrieving the truck, and wasted effort dealing with the city could easily top $600. If this happens frequently how can the business, or any business actually stay viable?
Frankly, I don't understand how UPS and Fedex can stay in Manhattan. Every single Fedex and UPS truck I see inevitably sports a parking ticket. Is ticketing companies doing reasonable business a smart idea? I don't think so. Those costs must be passed to someone, and that someone is ultimately the businesses' customers. This can only make them less competitive compared with companies not facing these extra transaction costs. And yet Mayor Bloomberg is ever fond of spouting his chest-thumping, NYC-centered jingoism that any company that wants in to the big leagues has to be in NYC. Tell that to Nectar Fizz, Mr. Mayor.

posted by anonymous at 10:46 AM

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