As Abraham Lincoln probably said: your best work is the work that you pretended to do for money. This maxim still rings true today thanks to NYPD officer Paul Pizzuto, who allegedly wrote 36 phony traffic tickets last year so he could claim overtime pay. According to the Post's sources the 17-year veteran would run random license plates for names to use on the tickets, and even used the names of the deceased. Authorities caught on because Pizzuto never sent copies to the DMV or the city's finance department, leaving them in legal limbo at the 120th Precinct. The 40-year-old cop is the third Staten Island officer to be caught writing fake tickets—two other officers were charged with the same crime in February. Pizzuto faces numerous felony charges for his crimes. more ›

The city added another 1,000 traffic enforcement officers last year, a workforce that has grown over 40% in the last five years, where ticket agents are reportedly racing to dish out tickets in an attempt to earn big bonuses in commission. Yet somehow they still ended up bringing in less revenue in the fiscal year that just ended than in the previous one. The Post reports that revenue from parking tickets dropped almost $30 million this past year (to a measly $595M). A spokesman for the mayor believes it's because more people are beating tickets online. But driver advocates such as Glenn Bolofsky, founder of ticket-beating site parkingticket.com, told the Post, "They just don't have the money. If revenue is down, it's only because individuals and businesses can't afford to pay." Maybe the city could bring in some more dough if they actually took a stand against the rampant traffic violations going on unchecked at major intersections. And no matter how many tickets agents write, we're pretty sure that they're not getting any money from this guy. more ›

On August 14, a cab driver struck and killed 8-year-old Axel Pablo who was crossing 112th Street near Lexington Avenue. While some witnesses said the driver was speeding and talking on his cellphone, police investigators reportedly found no evidence of Shaiful Alam being on his phone and did not charge him. Now it turns out that Alam has "an astounding 11 points on his license from July 2007 to July 2008," according to the Post, which adds, "Under state law, a driver with 11 points or more in an 18-month period gets an automatic license suspension. State officials could not immediately determine why that did not happen to Alam." more ›