De Blasio official arrested for using fake parking placard, suspended driver’s license
A high-level official in the de Blasio administration was busted for using a fake parking placard and a suspended driver’s license, the city announced Wednesday.
Vivian Louie, an assistant commissioner at the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, was caught using a “photocopied fraudulent parking placard in the dashboard of her vehicle” and 'fessed to the crime, according to the Department of Investigation.
The felony charge of using the forged document could bring a prison sentence of up to seven years, DOI stated, noting she has not yet been proven guilty in court.
On the evening of March 6, an investigator acting on a tip from HPD’s disciplinary director spotted Louie’s Rav4 parked in a metered space near HPD’s Downtown Manhattan offices with the fake placard, which lacked the holographic emblem that appears on the real, city-issued thing, DOI stated.
“The defendant acknowledged to investigators the placard was fake,” according to a criminal complaint cited by DOI.
It also turned out that Louie’s license had been suspended due to an unspecified summons on her record, DOI stated, a misdemeanor potentially bringing a fine of up to $500, up to 30 days in prison, or both.
“DOI is committed to investigating abuses of parking placards and holding public officials accountable for attempting to manipulate a system that is meant to assist city employees in their service to the public,” DOI Commissioner Margaret Garnett said in a statement.
Louie, 48, did not immediately answer a message requesting comment.
She’s worked for HPD since 2007 and earns about $148,000 per year focusing on property management and client services for the agency, according to DOI. She was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Wednesday.
The bust comes after Mayor de Blasio recently said the city was cutting back on enforcement of placard abuse.
“We’ve had to make a lot of tough cuts,” he said Sept. 14 on NY1. “We couldn’t focus on placard abuse.”
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