Push to pull pol’s parking placard
Brooklyn state Sen. Marty Golden’s bike lane of trouble is widening to freeway proportions — with transportation activists and political opponents calling on City Hall to yank his parking placard.
Official city parking placards are a highly coveted perk, allowing law enforcement, elected officials, teachers and people with disabilities to park virtually anywhere they won’t be obstructing traffic.
“At a minimum, there is no doubt” that the city should revoke Golden’s placard, said Andrew Gounardes, a Democrat expected to challenge Golden for his long-held Senate seat next year.
Cyclist Brian Howald says that on Monday night, Golden waved his parking placard and claimed to be a cop in an effort to clear the bike lane so his chauffeured car could pass.
“Waving a placard and threatening a cyclist is an abuse of power,” said Gounardes, who is Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams’ top lawyer.
The Streetsblog Web site joined in urging City Hall to revoke the parking placard over the encounter at Third Avenue and 14th Street in South Slope.
“Golden has shown himself to be an unrepentant menace behind the windshield,” wrote Brad Aaron, managing editor of the site, which promotes transportation safety.
“The revocation of his parking placard is the least that should happen to correct his behavior.”
But the Mayor’s Office on Friday remained mum about the incident.
Golden spokesman John Quaglione fired back at Gounardes.
“This is an overreach by Andrew Gounardes to politicize this story even further,” he said.
“As an elected official, Senator Golden is allowed to have a permit to use in the performance of his official duties.”
Golden has three unpaid violations on his car — including two for speeding in a school zone that are so overdue that the city could sic a collection agency on him.
He has yet to fork over cash for the speeding violations in August and November and still owes money on a citation he received last month for failing to feed a parking meter, according to the Department of Finance.