Results tagged “parkingtickets”

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.

In recent years, drivers are finding that they have an easier time getting their parking tickets reduced, but a more difficult time having them waved off altogether. This is because of a little publicized settlement program introduced in 2005 by the city's Department of Finance. People who challenge citations have the opportunity to settle their tickets with a clerk if they choose to opt out of overturning them before a judge. But a Department spokesperson explains, “Judges are responsible for determining whether or not a violation has occurred, which wasn’t the case before..They were dismissing tickets, they were offering large reductions." Some are concerned however that the one of the reasons that tickets in those cases are getting waved less frequently is because administrative law judges, per diem employees, feel vulnerable to pressure from their superiors all the same and that "the pressure is on" to collect revenue under the new system.

Council Members Davide Weprin, Simcha Felder and Vincent Gentile ripped up mock parking tickets in front of City Hall yesterday to protest what Gentile calls "a ticketing blitz, with New Yorkers being treated as revenue sources instead of residents, targets instead of partners." The Councilmen have introduced a bill that would require a five-minute "grace period" for certain parking violations, including no parking zones (such as alternate side) and expired Muni-Meters.

Did you know that donations to politicians can be used to pay off their parking tickets? Apparently embattled Rep. Charles Rangel has paid off some 2007 parking violations (with his PT Cruiser!) in D.C. by using campaign money. A Rangel spokesman said there's "nothing unethical" about that, especially, as the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington points out, "if [the tickets] were incurred during campaign activities or in relation to Rangel’s position as an officeholder." His office told CREW, "Given the holidays and the press of business in preparation for the new administration, we have not reconstructed the circumstances behind each ticket. However, Congressman Rangel is confident that the National Leadership PAC and Rangel for Congress complied with all applicable laws and regulations in connection with these expenses, which were fully reported consistent with FEC requirements.” In NYC, Rangel rides around in a Cadillac DeVille.

All NYPD precincts do not ticket equally; and a graphic in the Daily News displays where drivers are most and least likely to receive a parking ticket in New York City. It's not indicated why, but the total number of tickets issued by parking agents, 672,149, is down 13% from last year. The City hopes to remedy this with the recent addition of 200 more parking agents.