Drivers who bring city streets to a screeching halt by “blocking the box” are finally paying the price – although many continued yesterday to ignore the law and cause gridlock.
The city handed out nearly 700 summonses on Wednesday as part of a crackdown aimed at easing street congestion, officials said yesterday.
Traffic agents flooded intersections yesterday for a second straight day as traffic agents stepped up enforcement, pulling over drivers and dishing out $115 summonses.
But at West 54th Street and Broadway, where traffic agents were not handing out tickets, a Post reporter observed 29 cars blocking the box over the course of an hour.
The NYPD said it was doling out about 20 summonses an hour at various locations, including West 36th Street and Ninth Avenue.
On an average day last year, the NYPD wrote about 40 tickets, officials said.
Legally, drivers cannot enter an intersection until it’s clear for them to get out – a rule that has been routinely ignored by thousands each day.
Until this week, only cops could enforce the law and hand out moving violations.
In July, the law was amended, allowing the city’s 2,500 traffic agents to slap drivers with tickets.