Our fantastic friends over at New York Parking Ticket blew us away with this news. Mayor Bloomberg has rejected five proposals that would ensure NYC parking tickets are issued correctly. New York Parking Ticket put together this fabulous chart of the proposed changes put forth by the NY City Council Transportation Committee. Only the last one was approved by Mayor Bloomberg.
Ticket Agent has to photograph the vehicle — OK, we agree that this seems a bit onerous. NYPD officers would have to carry a camera and document each photo.
Suspending Alternate Side Parking regulations when film crews are on the Street – this will let people actually park when a film crew is taking up street parking spots. Given that NYC charges film production companies to use the street, that could offset the potential revenue from parking fines. On the other hand, it could really mess up the street cleaning schedule.
Adding Bar Codes to parking Placards — this seems to make a lot of sense to us. If a NYC Parking Placard is valid, then what’s the harm in confirming it on-site? The major drawback is the NYC Traffic Agents would have to carry handheld scanners or readers to read the barcode. That’s expensive. And who is to say that someone with a Parking Placard shouldn’t be parking somewhere? There are 118,000 NYC Parking Placards issued to police, government officials, and clergy. These placards let the user park almost anywhere. Last year the city issued 30,000 summonses for invalid placards, according to CBS News.
Judges have to dismiss a NYC parking ticket if the parker can show a valid muni-meter receipt — we have to say, this seems fair. Sometimes you place the NYC muni meter receipt on your dashboard correctly and it just blows away, or turns over, when you shut your car door.
Give a 1 Day Parking Permit for People who are Moving — what do you think about this? We’d need to see data on how many NYC parking violations are issued for people who are moving.
Get rid of Late Fees until 30 Days after a Final Judgment –we agree, and so did Mayor Bloomberg. After all, why should you be penalized if the NYC Traffic System is making a decision?
Margot Tohn of Park It spends her day coming up with ways to make driving, parking and walking in NYC easier. Check out her musings at www.parkitnyc.com.