Open Thread: Driving In Sheepshead Bay Sucks!

Ned’s risking a lot today by letting me write the Open Thread, but, frankly, I don’t care. This has been bothering me for some time now and I need to vent.

DRIVING IN SHEEPSHEAD BAY SUCKS.

There, I said it. I feel much better. Today, due to various road closures and ass-hat drivers it took me over 30 minutes to drive from Avenue W and 23rd Street to Avenue Z and Homecrest Avenue. Usually this drive takes less than five minutes, but not today. No, today it seemed that every street was either blocked or had some idiot driver causing chaos.

First, I encountered a Mercedes making an illegal U-turn on Avenue X. This schmuck couldn’t even accomplish this simple feat in the standard three-point turn. Instead, they needed six attempts to turn the car around.

Next, a Nissan heading south on Ocean Avenue couldn’t decide if it wanted the left or right lane. Instead it drove down middle of both lanes at less than 20 miles an hour all the while swerving from side to side to keep me from passing. Turning onto Avenue Y – guess what? Another car performing another illegal U-turn!

And look there, the MTA has the overpass closed off, forcing me to turn onto East 16th Street. Three lights later I finally make it to the intersection with Avenue Z. Here traffic is backed up in both directions while a black pickup is double parked and a tow truck is perpendicular to the street as it tries to lift a Lexus onto its bed. After a couple of futile attempts, the tow truck driver abandons his vehicle mid-street to talk with the driver of the pickup!

And what the hell is going on with the timing of the lights around here lately? Have you tried to cross Coney Island Avenue via Avenue Y or Avenue Z lately? Late afternoon traffic backs up almost to the tracks, EVERY day.

It’s bad enough that the DOT and the MTA conspire against us, but why the hell aren’t we more cognizant of our fellow drivers? C’mon everyone. I know we can do better than this.