Parking Placard Perks Cut Back for NYC Employees

The 144,160 parking placards registered in the city inventory have been reduced by over 25,000, Deputy Mayor Edward Skyler announced yesterday. The cutbacks are targeted at what many frustrated drivers see as an abuse of a system that lets police, teachers and civil servants park for free at meters and many off-limits areas. Initial cuts have focused on the 80,770 placards issued to 68 city agencies, exempting the 63,390 placards used by the Education Department.

The 32% slash beats Bloomberg’s initial pledge to cut them by 20%. NYPD employees saw their placards – which let them park their personal cars near the precinct houses – cut most severely, from 64,587 to 43,113. Ironically, the Police Department will now be the ones issuing the placards; in the past each city agency got to dole out their own. Now the DOT will be the only other agency with that authority.

More reductions are to come once the school year starts and the 63,390 Education Department placards are reduced. Paul Steely White, of Transportation Alternatives, sees this as “a good first step. But the final analysis will be weeks and months from now, when we see how actively these plaques are enforced.” Skyler insists that vehicles with expired permits or those issued without authority will now be ticketed. "You might as well have Time magazine on your windshield. It'll be just as effective." Beware, Park East synagogue employees!

Graphic courtesy NYPost.

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By John Del Signore in News on May 1, 2008 9:20 AM

Comments [rss]

jaja007

NYPD supposedly has about 36,000 uniformed officers. Yet there are over 43,000 placards for them

NYPD also issues Press Parking Permits.

quoo

Funny how there seem to be just as many illegally parked cars in downtown brooklyn this morning... It really doesn't seem to of had any effect.

sj

The placards all have expiration dates on them. Now that all the new placards have been divvied out with the 2009 expiration date and the word is out to the traffic wardens, any of the old ones should be fair game for tickets.

interlard

I hope the number of placards is reduced to zero. As we all saw in the report a few months back, a HUGE chunk of city traffic is created by city employees who were able to park for free.

Spirit of 76

I don't get this. NYPD supposedly has about 36,000 uniformed officers. Yet there are over 43,000 placards for them? That means every single cop gets the perk of free parking, plus another 7,000 back office workers for NYPD. What a great system. Why should most cops get free parking anyway? If you're in a cruiser, you obviously get free parking, and if you're in a private car, NYPD should have reserved parking around its stations for you, not unlimited parking wherever and whenever you want. Or is this one of the "perks" compensating for the low pay?

drewo

The more things (pretend) to change, the more (they will) stay the same.

faaap

How is the number reduced? Do people hand in their placards? Is the number associated with the placard "disavowed"? Will they not be renewed once they expire?

I have this sneaking suspicion that if a person is asked to surrender them, they will all curiously claim it went "missing".

I wish the worst type of ill upon people who abuse placards. The worst!