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Joined: Jan 2002
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veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
Out in the boonies
When I was a kid, we spent a lot of time there, but as I get older and more civilized, I tend increasingly to call it simply, BFE.
k
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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OP
old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
I tend increasingly to call it simply, BFE.Beyond Fringe of Eternity? Bold Feckless Everywhere? Brutal Friendless End-of-the-road? please explain.... 
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
re:"Don't Block The Box".
What the...?
This is a common Manhattan street sign. Manhattan is the easest place in the world to get around, since 90% of the streets are gridwork... (starting just above SoHo, all streets have numbers... starting at 1, and going up to 225 (in Manhattan) with the same numbers extending into the Bronx (260th Street or so) the high the number, the farther North you have gone.. Mid Town extends from about 33rd St, (empire state building,) to the 70's (Lincoln Center) (40 blocks or so, about 2 miles, or 3.5 K)
Avenues are generally numbered too, 1st Avenue being the closest to the edge of the continent (east side) and 12th next to the North (Hudson) River--(west side).
the gridwork results in most intersections being square or box shaped.. to prevent "gridlock" (traffic jams) it is illegal to enter the "grid" or box, unless there is enough room to travel through the box, and exit on the other side..
if there isn't, you are "blocking the box" if you are blocking the box when the light changes (at rush hour, in midtown) you risk a $350 fine!--and since you are contributing to gridlock-- the traffic cop is a foot patrolman, who walks up to your gridlocked car, and tickets you on the spot! there is no where for you to escape to!
in other areas the fines are smaller, and less likely to be impossed, since they are unlikely to become "gridlocked"--
so, should you plan a visit to the big apple, take the subway, don't drive, but if you do, don't block the box--other cities use the term, even when the local intersection are not always 'boxes'--just as gridlocked is used for traffic jams.
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,542 Likes: 1
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,542 Likes: 1 |
Do you know when the term came into use? I never heard it before, but I left NYC area in 1968.
I knew about the rule not to enter an intersection if you can't leave it, but the term "block the box" is new to me. Certainly the size of the fine is imposing...
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
some time during the Koch Administration.
diamond pattern where painted on high fine grids...as a warning.. and most cops are pretty nice to out of towners.. but there is no telling...its one way to tell if a movie scene is really in NY or if they are using Toranto as a NY stand in (the traffic signal lights in Toranto tend to be horizontal, too, an other give away the you are no in NY.. )
we almost never have horizontal traffic signals except under the els, (and there are no more els in Manhattan, (except 1 small patch at 125th street)
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Joined: Jan 2001
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
The traffic signals in St. John's are supposed to be vertical. When we first moved here we marveled at the way all the lights were held by cables and allowed to swing freely. After the first moderately* windy day where the lights flew horizontally of their own accord, much like flags, we then understood. Traffic lights as we had previously known them would've been snapped off.
* moderately on the St. John's scale is still pretty damn windy
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
diamond pattern where painted on high fine grids
I understand the diamond pattern and I understand painted. But what do you mean by 'high fine grids' please?
We too have a number of strategically placed box junctions where the road surface is painted with yellow diamonds - not to be entered unless the way off is clear. Unfortunately they are not well enforced, so gridlock is not uncommon in the rush hour.
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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OP
old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
what do you mean by 'high fine grids' please?Jumping in here, I took this to mean that the "boxes" with the highest fines for being blocked, are marked with a grid of diamonds - just speculatin'. I always thought it was just a (possibly written, possibly not) "rule" of driving, that you don't drive into an intersection you can't leave? Or maybe I'm just an exceptionally perlite driver. hahahahahahahaha! Whew, that was funny! 
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
Right, yes. I'm being dumb, thinking of fine grids and wondering why they would be painted high where you wouldn't see them! Strange how you (me anyway) get a notion and don't always re-examine it. Thanks MG. Are there low fine grids I wonder?
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Are there low fine grids?
One might infer the existence of low fine grids from the existence of high fine grids. One need not expect their being advertised.
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