Drawing A Line In The Cement: NYCRR: Sidewalks

We're tackling the issue of NYC's sidewalk maintenance, use and liability, early this year, before any unscheduled skating events occur on any of the City's 12,750 miles of sidewalks.

The following information pertains to the sidewalk rules and regulations for the 5 boroughs of New York City.

Sidewalk Maintenance

The sidewalk in front of any building or lot must be maintained and repaired by the property owner. Any defects must be promptly repaired. The owner of all property with four or more families is responsible for any injury caused by the owner's failure to maintain the sidewalk in a reasonably safe condition. If the repair covers more than 25 square feet of the sidewalk, the owner or contractor must obtain a Sidewalk Replacement Permit from the Department of Transportation.

Sidewalk Use

All businesses intending to use a portion of the sidewalk for daily operation, or who wish to attach to or place upon the sidewalk any items such as canopies, bike racks, benches, planters, or who wish to use a basement vault, must obtain a renewable permit or a revocable consent from the Department of Transportation. The placement of any item on the sidewalk must not interfere with the use of the sidewalk by pedestrians. A minimum of 8 feet or half the sidewalk, whichever is greater, must be kept clear between the item and any obstacle on the curbside, such as hydrants and traffic control devices. No business may prevent parking or paint the curb, sidewalk, or roadway to advertise the business.

Sidewalk Obstruction

Businesses are responsible for keeping the adjacent section of sidewalk free from all obstructions such as refuse, refuse containers, and A-frame signs to allow the free flow of pedestrian traffic.Street ObstructionIt is illegal for anyone to place or leave any box, barrel, or other moveable property (regardless of ownership) upon any public street or public place. This law applies to construction or demolition containers, which may only be placed on the street with a permit from the Department of Transportation. In addition, restaurants may not place obstructions such as stanchions or cones in the street to prevent parking or to provide ingress/egress for customers.

Snow and Ice Removal

Snow and/or ice must be removed from the sidewalk within four hours after the snow has stopped falling, or by 11 AM if snow has stopped falling after 9 PM the previous evening. If the snow or ice becomes so frozen that it cannot be removed, the sidewalk may be strewn with ashes, sand, sawdust or similar suitable material within the same time limits. The sidewalk must be thoroughly cleared as soon as weather permits.

Stay safe,

Jonathan Caspian

P.S. As we stated in our previous email; our new digital format with live video begins in two weeks - we may preview Halloween costume safety... for adults.

Who Knows About You? Silvana Does! Yellow Pages v. Web Ads

Of course, our newest teammember, Silvana Brucculleri, knows about our Beacon readers; their needs and concerns and the informationally-focused news that we try to provide for the trial law community. Silvana brings real-world investigative fieldwork and research, translated into a digital format, to our valued readers. A short while ago, we realized we needed to expand our staff. After reviewing tons of vid. CVs, conducting in person interviews and carefully sorting through unsolicited, albeit, some interesting, offers, we incidentally and accidently ran into Silvana during a work-related project. We saved the video resumes, letters and amusing Photoshopped headshots we'd amassed for our Best of... release and went gut instinct. Starting with next week's Bulletin, Silvana will be joining us via live video from the field. Welcome to Beacon, Silvana!

On to this week's topic: Yellow Pages v. Internet Ads

The knowledgeable weigh in:

The Yellow Pages
Regarding Lex-Nex' David Heardman's negative assessment of Yellow Pages advertising as a viable current marketing avenue, Josh Friedman, Esq, responds: "Although I hate to give away my "secret," I think prediction of the death of the yellow pages is a bit premature. First of all, it's simply not true. In my solo civil rights and employment law practice, and in those of many of my small firm colleagues, the yellow pages is far and away the biggest source of business. Most of my under 30 clients don't even have Internet access, and they are much more comfortable using the phone to identify, research and hire counsel...." davidheardman@lexisnexis.com

The Digital Divide
U.S. residential broadband penetration is expected to exceed 50 percent in 2007. By the end of 2007, more than 60 million U.S. households will be connected--around 55 percent--according to market researcher Parks Associates. During 2006, broadband subscriptions grew by more than 20 percent in the U.S. and by the end of the year around 50 million households had fat pipes. Source: CNet. (www.cnet.com)

Unless one has Legal Zoom's advertising budget, the decision between print and digital advertising is an angst-ridden one for most law firms. Much like iPhone's early purchasers, most business owners do not want to be caught out in the cold two months after spending their annual budget in the wrong marketing venue.

We have solid advertising advice for the legal practitioner:

By limiting to, or concentrating your advertising dollars to spend in, the Yellow Pages and other print-based mediums, you are likely to also limit the audience to one that is typically less able to pay your fees.

Certainly one should keep a presence in the print media but the market-saavy recommend that you decrease the print and increase a digital presence as well. That way you stand a better chance of getting a few of the many folks who are increasingly using this medium for their legal resource finding.

You will definitely miss the group from another city who need the services of a local provider. They will use an online resource almost 100% of the time. That is inevitable.

Bottom line: Our experts suggest a 30% print and 70% digital advertising campaign.

Remember to help us usher in Silvana next week as she reports live!

BNI Operatives: Street smart; web saavy.

Be careful,

Jonathan Caspian

How To Tell If You Are Being Tracked

This week we cover ground and electronic tracking.

Ground tracking may involve placing a tracking device - either tonal or GPS system - on a vehicle or object and monitoring its movement in real time. Our guest video this week explains the differences between tonal and GPS tracking. Good information to store on a back burner should you encounter a client matter requiring such services. The info contained in the video helps one determine which type of tracking is the most viable and cost-effective for a specific situation.

How To Tell If You Are Being Ground Tracked:

1. Check your tires for chalk marks. (Easy, inexpensive and foolproof method for someone to check if you are moving your vehicle.)

2. Check under the middle areas of both sides of the vehicle. Tracking devices are generally placed under the middle pillar of a car - not on the rear of the Ferrari as seen in every Magnum P.I. episode.

3. If you think you are being followed, first consider your safety. If you believe you are in danger, call 911 or stop at a local police station. If it's for fun and giggles, stop at an offbeat place - like a monument store next to a cemetery. See who stops too. Wave.

For electronic tracking - Aliases, serious background checks, locating the unlocatable..., we go to our good friends at www.geopointdata.com . Not your daddy's information service. GeoPoint's records are not available to the general public, the nosy media or bored former classmate seekers. (In fact, you can't even get in to see the meat of what they do unless you have been approved.) If you are looking to fill a family reunion venue - head to USSearch. If you have a wrongful death with disappearing witnesses; see the guys at GeoPointData. Everyone leaves a byte trail.

How To Tell If You Are Being Electronically Tracked:

1. Check your credit report. (Everyone is entitled to a free annual credit report. There are three main consumer credit reporting agencies. You can get a free report then every four months.) Check the very bottom of the report. All inquirants must be posted by name and phone number.

2. Note unusual junk mail. Especially free offers that require simply returning a mailer, postage paid.

3. Be wary of "utility" or "directory company" calls requesting contact info updates. The real companies will send ground mail requests.

4. Online. Information requests from your friends at PayPal addressed from (e.g.) paypal@neopost.com is neither from a friend or Paypal. PayPal, Ebay, Lexis... require on-site updates and will send mail to you on their sites.

5. Banking. Check for small deposits to your account. The teller may have been asked for an account balance on the deposit receipt. Most tellers will provide that info to anyone making a deposit into an account. Have your accounts specifically tagged for information release authorization. The bank can also require the depositor's I.D. Be interesting to check bank video if someone tries to deposit into your account and refuses to do so after an I.D. has been requested. (In general, banks allow deposits to be made by anyone. They can, however, be held accountable for releasing information other than to authorized account signatories.)

As always...

Be safe,

Lina

Free, Easy & It Works! WiFi Connection Anywhere

On the run professionals often do not have the capability to immediately access WiFi connections. Simple tasks such as checking email, viewing your daily schedule, performing quick online research for a matter at hand... are made difficult when one is not in his/her own static environment. Trying to manually access a laptop or handheld's connections manager while out of the office becomes a complicated and very slow process.

Recently, we found ourselves in a crunch situation wherein we had to access email that contained important background information for a case, while already in the field and out of contact with the client. We ran across one of the best tools out there for fast and easy WiFi access with, literally, one mouse click. Easy WiFiRadar. Here's the best part - no credit cards. It's totally FREE - and it works!! We've used it for months now.

Check out the Easy WiFiRadar (www.makayama.com/easywifiradar.html), video above. The instructor delivers a quick tutorial that will have you accessing free WiFi in less than two minutes, in one click, guaranteed.

Enjoy a safe Labor Day holiday,

Lina