Report: Parking Placard Abuse Continues To Run Rampant

(Uncivil Servants).

The flagrant misuse of parking placards has been an issue for quite some time and despite efforts from City Hall to cut down the number of placards out there and up enforcement, a new Transportation Alternatives study [PDF] shows it is still a huge problem. In their check of five dense areas of the city 57 percent of the permits they saw being used were either legal permits used illegally or just illegitimate permits. We wish we were surprised.

The area with the worst offenders? How about the government-filled lower Manhattan. Of the 244 placards on display in that TA saw, only found 11 were being used legally!

The problem with the placards isn't just that people are more than happy to use fake ones, it is also that even those with legit ones don't seem to understand (or choose to ignore) how they work. Of the 1,107 cars the TA found with legitimate permits, 43 percent were illegally parked (double-parked, parked on the sidewalk, blocking bus and bike lanes, etc.), which is not the point of the placards. They are supposed to let their owners park at meters without paying and sometimes park in no-parking zones.

So what to do? The TA suggests the city up its enforcement of placard abuse, but first that would require teaching agents to recognize fake placards. To that end, they (and we) support a bill in the City Council from Councilman Dan Garodnick that would put barcodes on all official placards. That way an agent could simply scan it to find out it if it was legit. They also argue that the NYPD and the DOT should "release a report each year tallying the number of permits issued and violations handed out" so that the public can keep a better eye on the issue.

While we wait (and wait) for such a report, Uncivil Servants at least continues to regularly collect and post pictures of bad permits in action.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Garth Johnston in News on April 28, 2011 11:46 AM

Comments [rss]

Guest

70 precinct in Brooklyn, Flatbush Junction, Brooklyn College area the NYPD parks all over the sidewalks, in crosswalks, in front of fire hydrants, double park, and block access to legally parked cars all of the time. Numerous letters to Inspector Ralph Monteforte have been totally ignored. Too bad that civilians can't have police RMP's towed.

HughGass

75 West End Avenue, blue BMW M3 parks illegally everynight with a police placard. he lives in the building and is a liar.

LtWorf

Just ticket & tow the bastards. This should help with our budget shortfall.

NYC911

Great! Too many no parking signs.

We pay to much tax's.

Too many frikkin traffic cops.

If you can get your hands on a fake permit DO SO!

Fronko

Don't the cops know that no one needs a parking placard? Just park in a bike lane and no one will give you a second look.

Guest

So true... I'm fed up with seeing cops driving around and not paying any attention to cars parked in the bike lanes. I see such situations way too often.

Peanut_Butter

Cops are too busy tracking down terrorists to notice small infractions.

I drove past the front of a cop car yesterday (I was on the cross street going across the intersection; cop car was the first car at the red light on the avenue); my right headlight (closer to him) was out, seatbelt not on, cell phone in right hand up to right ear (closer to him).

No ticket.