Stop and don't go traffic

Study: Parking permits used illegally in 77% of city vehicles
New York Daily News | September 28, 2006

By Michael Saul

More than three out of every four holders of government parking permits citywide use their permits illegally, a news study obtained by the Daily News reveals. Researchers for Transportation Alternatives, the advocacy group that conducted the study, examined nine neighborhoods in all five boroughs on the morning of June 21. They found 2,299 vehicles displaying parking permits and a whopping 1,777 of those permits holders, or 77%, using their permits illegally. Here are some of the findings:

  • The NYPD was responsible for 46% of the illegal permit abuse citywide, by far the largest share from any single agency.
  • One in five of the illegally parked cars caused safety hazards, including 212 on sidewalks. 46 blocking fire hydrants, 23 in crosswalks, 22 in bus stops, 8 in intersections and 10 in bike lanes. The NYPD was responsible for 61% of these abuses
  • More than a quarter of the permits spotted by the researchers were invalid, meaning they aren't recognized or issued by the city of New York. "It's hard to believe that we have to do a study this extensive to draw attention to the issue, but it's really very simple: the NYPD needs to enforce the law when it comes to illegal permit use," said Matthew Roth , an official with Transportation Alternatives."New York's finest need to ticket and tow people who park illegally, whether they have a permit or not- to do anything less would be to perpetuate double standards," Roth said. Asked for the mayors response to the study, his spokesman, Stu Loeser, said, "The Mayor believes that nobody should use a parking placard to park illegally or inappropriately." Transportation Alternatives estimates that more than 150,000 drivers have access to government-issued parking permits, including more than 30,000 NYPD permits and 75,000 teacher permits. The rampant abuse has affected every borough. "Downtown Brooklyn is a nightmare," Councilman David Yassky (D-Brooklyn) said. "Between the courts and all the government buildings, we have blocks and blocks of residential streets that are supposed to be for neighborhood residents that are taken up every day by government employees." In recent months, The News has written a series of stories chronicling parking permit abuses, prompting Bloomberg to promise to work more aggressively to address the problem. Transportation Alternatives plans to release the report during a press conference at City Hall at 11 a.m. today.
    • Submitted by admin on December 18, 2007 - 16:59. categories [ ]