Placard Abuse Crackdown Pulls Just 2 Permits In 19 Months: Report
NEW YORK CITY — A high-profile “three strikes” crackdown on New York City placard abusers was a big swing and a miss, according to a new report.
Just two placards were pulled during the city’s 19-month-old placard enforcement effort, the New York Post reported.
Separately, THE CITY reported no city employees had their placards taken away despite many, including City Council members, accruing unpaid bills for traffic and parking violations.
The effort ended with the latest round of budget cuts, THE CITY reported.
Mayor Bill de Blasio dodged NY1’s Errol Louis’ question Monday about why so few placards were pulled. He said misuse of the city-issued placards is a problem but not compared to other issues in the coronavirus pandemic.
“We couldn't focus on placard abuse,” de Blasio said.
De Blasio announced the crackdown in February 2019 in a flashy conference with a sign stating “Fair Rules, Strong Enforcement.”
There are roughly 150,000 city-issued placards and problems with them are well-documented. A Twitter account — @placardabuse — sometimes hourly posts photos of city employees and others using them as an effective get-out-of-a-ticket-free card.
Didn't know Infiniti made a new model that the @FDNY can use to operate fire hydrants. pic.twitter.com/V4oHmgIvOc
— placard corruption (@placardabuse) September 15, 2020
This article originally appeared on the New York City Patch
