To the Editor:

On Friday, October 2nd, my wife had parked in the west train parking lot in 
Tarrytown, next to the town hall, to come into the city and join me for
 dinner. For those that do not know, the taxi stand has been re-located to 
the west lot, taking up resident spots and the driveway to enter and exit
 the lot. We returned about 10:35PM and proceeded to our car. When we
 attempted to drive out of the lot, a taxi driver was standing in the middle 
of the road trolling for passengers and blocking our way. I asked him to
 move and he told me to “shut up white boy” and kicked my car.

Now, ordinarily, I would have gotten out of my car and said something -
even have gone to the police station, though I know that would result in
 little. I did not stop, because I was tired , but mostly I was blown away by this next level of parking issues in our town.
 I understand that the taxi drivers provide a needed service to our town and 
they are trying to make a living. On the other hand, these “folks” should
 not be standing in the middle of the driveway, blocking the normal flow of
 permit paying town residents from using the lot we “sometimes” have access 
to (as long as you arrive before 7AM or after 5PM). Who is in control here
- the taxi drivers or the town?

The fact is, parking is a very big problem in Tarrytown. Our government does not
 care that residents are subjugated “across the tracks” to park, even though 
we are the primary taxpayers. But now, if we are lucky enough to get the good spots, we need to run a gauntlet of taxi drivers who feel empowered to 
intimidate the permit payers in “their” space. The taxi situation is a
 temporary (12 month?) situation, but who minds them? Why are the taxis allowed to harass us? When is our 
town going to start taking this seriously, rather than looking at all of these inconveniences as some things that the residents will just “deal
 with”. Perhaps we should have the town hall workers park across the tracks for a month to get their attention. I am guessing that I am not the only frustrated commuter in town.

B. Dorfman
Tarrytown