Free parking monopoly: Placard abuse continues on the streets of NYC

Parked on Amsterdam Ave. in front of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine last Tuesday evening was a black 2019 Mercedes-Benz S560 4MATIC sedan. However, it wasn’t the lux wheels that caught our eye, but the New York license plate: NY ASSEMBLY 92.

This was the car of an assemblymember, not Tom Abinanti from the 92nd District in Westchester, but No. 92 by seniority. As the Manhattan Democratic Party’s judicial nominating convention was going on inside the world’s largest cathedral, we have a pretty good idea of whose car it was, but here we will protect the guilty.

The plate serves no legal purpose. It just advertises that a politician is behind the wheel, potentially discouraging parking ticket agents and cops with radar guns from doing their duty. Such quasi-official plates for private vehicles (which the state Senate and the City Council and other local electeds also have, as do judges) should be abolished by the DMV. And while we’re on the subject, why should veterinarians and chiropractors and certified public accountants get to buy plates that advertise who they are?

Back to the Benz, the bigger perk was on its front dash: a parking placard issued by the state, granting free parking. “THIS VEHICLE IS ON OFFICIAL BUSINESS,” it said across the top and bottom in white letters against a red background, with “FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY” in black type running down each end of the card and an extra giant “OFFICIAL BUSINESS” in orange under the state seal. Placard #22-5888 expires May 1, 2023. The contact phone number rings in the governor’s office. (See the dogged Twitter feed @placardabuse for a steady drumbeat of many misuses of real and fake parking permits.)

There was nothing official that night at the cathedral, just party politics. And actually, we can’t think of any official business on the streets of New York City for any government official using a private car besides inspectors or couriers. Ban the placards, along with the plates.