BILL STUBS TOW
Creates chaos by giving out thousands of parking placards Has to hire army of traffic agents to crack down on them
AFTER ISSUING thousands of new placards to city workers, Mayor de Blasio now says he’s ready to spend millions to hire an army of traffic agents to crack down on their abuse.
Not only did he vow to hire 100 new traffic enforcement agents, the mayor also said Wednesday he would boost fines and step up towing in response to the placard pandemonium.
“Before anyone thinks it’s a clever idea to misuse our placards, my advice is you better get to know where our impound lots are — because you’re going to end up visiting them,” de Blasio said outside a Bronx school.
The tough talk comes after he increased the number of people who get placards — handing out 50,000 of them to city teachers and paraprofessionals. He claimed that those parking perks came as a result of legal actions and labor negotiations.
The city’s streets have long been plagued by placard problems — something evident outside nearly every police precinct, courthouse or building.
Not only are there issues with legit placards — the city has issued 148,516 of them — used when people aren’t really working, people also employ counterfeit or makeshift placards to avoid tickets. Those efforts often work. The mayor’s announcement came as the Twitter account @placardabuse has posted photos of improperly parked city cars — and traffic agents routinely ignoring them.
“I was troubled to hear of this website that showed footage of enforcement agents not doing their job. That’s unacceptable to me,” de Blasio said.
The NYPD will create a new unit focused on placards. Sixteen people in the Transportation Bureau Citywide Task Force will watch hotspots for placard use around the city. The city will also hire 100 new traffic enforcement agents, who will be placed on placard patrols at courthouses and government buildings.
De Blasio said the department will also “add additional towing capacity” and fine drivers up to $100 for misusing a placard, on top of any parking violations. Anyone caught misusing their placard will face “one of the most profound consequences” — permanently losing their placard, the mayor said.
De Blasio said he didn’t yet know what the undertaking will cost, but believes it will pay for itself in fines issued.
Historically, however, traffic agents — a division of the NYPD — have been reluctant to issue fines for placard perfidy.
“I think there’s a kind of problem in public service we’ve seen for a long time that people think they’re doing each other a favor . . . . It’s gone on for decades, but it’s not acceptable,” de Blasio said.
Before anyone thinks it’s a clever idea to misuse our placards, my advice is you better get to know where our impound lots are. — MAYOR DE BLASIO