\u201cWe see that all the time that the city is trying to work around the fact that there\u2019s a lack of parking enforcement and that there\u2019s some abuses of power with parking enforcement that we hope would be resolved with it moving to another department,\u201d Jason Froimowitz, the chair of the Manhattan board\u2019s transportation committee, told Streetsblog.<\/p>\n
Brooklyn CB6\u2019s resolution passed without any opposition.<\/p>\n
\t\t\tRecommended<\/p>\n
\t\t Other boards have resolutions in the pipeline. Brooklyn CB2\u2019s transportation committee, for example, passed the resolution unanimously on April 9.<\/p>\n The push stems from locals\u2019 frustration with the status quo. Brooklyn CB6, for example, passed its resolution during a discussion about the need for more loading zones.<\/p>\n Froimowitz said illegal parking isn\u2019t just a minor nuisance. Drivers who park in bus lanes slow down thousands of people\u2019s commutes. Drivers who block entrances to hospital emergency rooms could prevent a dying person from getting life-saving treatment.<\/p>\n \u201cEnforcement is not meeting the needs of our city\u2019s population,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re constantly trying to work around the fact that there\u2019s a lack of enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n Then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani shifted traffic enforcement from DOT to the NYPD in 1996 as part of a larger government reorganization. The merger switched their uniforms from brown to blue and was, in part, meant to emphasize their image as members of law enforcement<\/a>. Traffic enforcement agents are part of the NYPD, but are civilian employees and not peace officers, meaning they do not carry guns.<\/p>\n Cops have a well-documented<\/a> aversion to following parking rules<\/a> themselves. In fact, the problem is so well-known that, under President Biden, the U.S. Department of Justice threatened to sue the NYPD<\/a> over sidewalk parking in 2024, claiming that the common practice violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.<\/p>\n \u201cNYPD vehicles and the personal vehicles of NYPD employees frequently obstruct sidewalks and crosswalks in the vicinity of NYPD precincts,\u201d the letter stated. It added that means \u201cthe city\u2019s pedestrian grid is not readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n Reformers pushed to separate the police from traffic enforcement<\/a> at the height of the nation\u2019s racial reckoning in 2020. Attorney General Letitia James endorsed the campaign<\/a>, but it fizzled out like so many other reforms proposed during the era. Members of the police department\u2019s traffic enforcement force and its union opposed the move<\/a>, claiming it would subject more agents to insults and physical assaults. <\/p>\n Still, that sentiment never fully faded, especially as more New Yorkers tire of the police department\u2019s lack of parking enforcement. Froimowitz said the push could fit into the mayor\u2019s rethinking of how city government works.\u00a0<\/p>\n As a candidate, Mamdani ran on shifting the city\u2019s mental health emergency response system from the NYPD to social workers<\/a>. He moved closer to making this a reality in March by creating the Office of Community Safety<\/a>, although it falls short of a full-fledged agency. And, just on April 7, the administration announced the creation of a new office at DOT to manage curbside lanes<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cParking is a ripe opportunity for a sort of a revisit and a reprioritization,\u201d Froimowitz said. \u201cIn fairness to the NYPD, they do have complicated jobs. \u2026 I can understand [why] parking enforcement can at times be on the lower end of their overall department priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n
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