So the big news on Long Island, NY was the grand opening of an 800k square foot Tanger outlet mall in Deer Park. It’s infuriating enough trying to negotiate the 20-minute wait to get out of the overcrowded lot. However, the real aggro’s found in the front of the parking lot. Normally, you’d expect spaces reserved for the handicapped. Instead, there are 30-some-odd spots set aside for “Parking for Low Emitting and Fuel Efficient Vehicles Only” (a la the ‘Expecting Mother’ spots reserved at the supermarket). So who exactly is policing these spots, and what criteria are they using? As you’d expect over half were filled with SUVs. The other half were occupied by emissions-belching early 90s rides clearly driven by store staff who arrived first. Or perhaps in my random sample the H3, Grand Cherokee and ML in the spots are already part of the Pickens Plan strategy for natural gas retrofitting. I don’t know who I want to bite in the arm as hard as I can- the patrons or the mall developer…