Q: Why doesn’t the Long Island Rail Road call itself a “railroad”?

A: The Long Island Rail Road has used several monikers since it was first chartered on April 24, 1834, as “The Long-Island Rail-Road Company.” According to an LIRR historian, Robert Andersen, the company has used both “Rail Road” and “Railroad” on official documents and as the company name over the course of its history. He says Rail Road is the name currently, and almost certainly will continue to be used, because the company was incorporated under that name.

Q: It seems as though the unwritten rule regarding broken parking meters is that if you’re lucky enough to find a space at one, your parking is on the city. Is it actually legal to park at a broken meter and just toss a bag over it or scrawl a note? Are there any rules about this?

A: It is legal to park at a broken meter, or even at the site of a missing meter. The catch is that a car can be parked in such a space only for up to an hour, or whatever the maximum amount of time allowed by the meter if it were in working order, according to part 3 of section 4-08 of the city code. Because there is no place for a motorist to deposit change, there is no way to pay the city for the privilege of parking.

This is not the case in the event a motorist comes across a broken Muni-Meter. The law requires motorists parked in the area of a broken Muni-Meter to seek out a functioning machine within its “parking field.” That means that if drivers can find an operational Muni-Meter within a block of the one that’s gone kaput, they must pay that meter and place the purchased ticket in their windshield as though it came from the broken meter. If no such meter can be located, the motorist need not pay, but the time limits still apply, as with broken single meters.

Q: What are those small green signs I see along most roads just outside the city?

A: Those signs are reference markers used on every route in New York State. They always display three numbers, which allow officials to locate or describe specific areas of roads. On each sign, the top number distinguishes the route number; the middle number identifies the county, the region of Department of Transportation jurisdiction, and the sequence of the county along the particular road; the bottom number refers to the distance of the sign from the nearest county border, notated in 10ths of a mile.