Pols: Cut city staff parking abuse
A pair of City Council bills to be proposed Thursday would crack down on placards used by city employees to park illegally in streets across the five boroughs.
The legislation — introduced by Brooklyn Councilman Lincoln Restler — would force city agencies to revoke a majority of parking placards that are not guaranteed by collective bargaining agreements.
Restler estimated that would cover about 60,000 placards, ending the free passes given to workers like cops and firefighters, but said the bill would allow most teachers who currently enjoy parking privileges to keep them.
“The city has failed for many years now to enforce against placard abuse and there’s no reason not to eliminate this petty corruption once and for all,” said Restler. “City employees serve the public, not the other way around. Our legislation moves us towards a placard-free city, which is more than reasonable in the most transit-rich city in the country.”
The councilman also introduced legislation would allow everyday New Yorkers to report illegal placards to the city Department of Transportation and collect 25% of any fines issued if the complaints are substantiated. It mirrors legislation previously proposed by Restler’s predecessor Steven Levin that failed to pass.
A similar program is in place that allows city residents to videotape trucks that idle for long periods of time in exchange for a portion of fines issued by the city.
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2017 and 2019 announced plans to crack down on illegal placards and reduce the number of them issued by city agencies. But those plans floundered due to a lack of enforcement, and by mid-2019 the number of placards issued by the city reached more than 140,000, data show.
Eight days before he left office, de Blasio announced another plan to issue digital readers to parking enforcement agents that would allow them to scan placards to see if they were legitimate and not being abused.
Mayor Adams’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new administration’s plans for placards.
Street safety advocates see a placard crackdown as a necessary step towards increasing bus speeds across the city and curbing fatal car crashes.
“Ending placard abuse in New York City will make our streets safe, while ensuring bus and bike riders can stay moving — unobstructed by illegally stored cars,” said Danny Harris, executive director of the advocacy group Transportation Alliance.