New York City – No stopping or standing?
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Despite a widely touted citywide crackdown on parking placards — both real and counterfeit — New Yorkers can apparently still easily flout the law by parking with bogus permits.
Transportation Alternatives, a group that promotes bike-riding and mass transit, tested Mayor Bloomberg’s anti-placard movement by parking a car illegally in Manhattan last week with a fake permit bearing the name of a bogus agency, “Citizen Protection Administration.”
After six hours, the green Mazda Miata didn’t get any summonses.
Group spokesman Wiley Norvell, who brought The Post along for the ride, said the incident proves that “if you can go out across New York City and park with impunity, then these reforms aren’t achieving what they were intended to do.”
Norvell first parked the Miata on 30th Street between Madison and Fifth avenues in a no-standing zone, which is off-limits even with a legitimate placard.
Within an hour, two NYPD traffic agents appeared — and wrote out several tickets for cars across the street.
One agent then inspected the Miata and called out to the other one, “It says Citizen Protection Administration.” He then threw up his hands, shrugged his shoulders and walked on.
When a Post reporter followed the agent and asked why he did not give the car a ticket, he said it was his first day on the job. His partner declined comment and suggested the reporter call 311.
Norvell then moved the car to 65th Street between Second and Third avenues, where it was illegally parked in a no-stopping zone for more than three hours, but no agents came by.
Norvell then drove the vehicle to First Avenue between 65th and 66th streets and parked in a spot that would have been legal with a legitimate placard.
A cop walking down First Avenue checked out Norvell’s handmade permit but left without ticketing the car. The officer declined comment.
Finally, Norvell brought the Miata to a broken meter on Amsterdam Avenue between 94th and 95th streets. A traffic agent drove by but ignored it.
One of the reforms that Bloomberg instituted last year was having placards distributed only by the NYPD and city Department of Transportation.
“Thanks to the mayor’s efforts, there has been a noticeable reduction in the misuse and abuse of placards generally,” said Jason Post, a spokesman for Bloomberg.
This only happens in the big apple, in willy town nothing helps may it me EMT/vas plates or even a DOT permit, u still get the ticket
Why doesn’t anyone bother investigating the rampant abuse of law by policemen bothe with parking their private vehicles anywhere they want to including on the sidewalk causing many elderly and disabled people to have to go onto the street and risk getting hit by a car or police cars passing red lights when they are not on an emergency call, unless being late for lunch is an emergency. The Bloomberg hypocracy continues unabated.
I have the same experience. Even with a handicapped permit, I get tix all the time.
This is a joke in BP I see cars with real permits getting tickets look by the hospital let it be on sat. Or Sunday I see every one gets a ticket
isn’t this called entrapment? you are begging the agent to fall for a bogus placard. if he writes the ticket and its a legit plackard he gets in trouble. this is called entrapment
A lot of people take advantege of parking permits, and a lot get away with it. This is why traffic gives out tickets like they are going out of stlye. Which doesnt help the people who are getting tickets while helping other people.
Having a placard is better than none. Where can I get one?