DAN MANGAN
NY Post Online
October 18, 2001 -- Firefighters are steaming over an East Side restaurateur who uses a firefighter's windshield placard to park illegally next to his eatery.
William Reddy, owner of the Gamut bistro on 102 E. 25th St., admitted to The Post he is not a firefighter, but wouldn't talk about the card on the dashboard of his Ford Explorer.
Asked why there's a Uniformed Firefighters Association card on the dash of his Explorer, which has Pennsylvania license plates, Reddy said, "I'm not sure" that's the case.
But The Post got photos of the vehicle displaying the laminated placard, which says:
"Fire Dept.-New York City active firefighter, expires 12/31/2001. This vehicle is on official UFA business."
A reporter saw the card on the dash of Reddy's vehicle parked in a commercial zone.
"I don't really have anything to say," Reddy said when pressed for an explanation.
"I don't think it's right, bottom-line," said Tom Butler, spokesman for the UFA, the firefighters union.
The city concurs.
"I'm sure it is not a carte blanche. You can't park in any areas you wish," said a spokesman for the Department of Finance, which oversees the Parking Violations Bureau.
But the spokesman also said there were no records of parking violations being issued to Reddy's car.
Neighbors of Reddy's restaurant said he frequently parks in that zone and across the street in a buses-only zone, and believe he displays the placard to avoid being ticketed by police.
"It's a disgusting thing to do," said one neighbor, who added that people in the area were long aware of Reddy's practice, but became angry about it after the Sept. 11 World Trade Center disaster.
Butler said he had no idea how Reddy came to have the placard, which is meant to allow firefighters to park in spaces set aside for them near firehouses.
He said the union gives the placards only to firefighters and expects them to be used only by firefighters.
"He's wrong if he's using it," said a firefighter at the Ladder Co. 7 firehouse, a few blocks from Reddy's restaurant.
A man who works in the building next to the Gamut, and who has eaten there, blasted Reddy.
"What an idiot. It's so stupid. Why do that?" said Frank Galdun, an environmental consultant.
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