Letters to the Editor
Whack the Placard-Slackers

To the Editor:

Mayor Bloomberg's newly announced, if not yet implemented, crackdown on the abuse of parking privileges by municipal workers is welcome news, but is still missing a key point.

The placard-owners who park, quasi-legally, at their workplaces are most certainly an annoyance to their neighbors, but while this is certainly disturbing, it's a localized issue.

Far more crippling is the practice of these people, and other privileged folk - from all levels of government and other groups - to use their placards to park their cars when shopping, or visiting friends, or just to grab any convenient location - including expired parking meters, crosswalks, and even worse, bus stops and fire hydrants.

Even more important than cutting down on the placards, what's needed is a firm directive from City Hall to the police and other traffic agents to tag any and all vehicles improperly parked or with improper registration or inspection stickers.

I suggest that one day a month, each and every car that's illegally placed, whether it carries an "official" government plate, or an NYPD placard, or a UFT insignia, or even, dare I say it, a reporter's NYP plates, should be ticketed.

If the owner is a Nurse doing a home visit, or a reporter covering a story, or a Detective investigating a crime scene, or a Teacher at school, then all they need to do is return the ticket with an explanatory affidavit. The judges at the Parking Violations Bureau will then, just as they do with other protests from the public, weigh the arguments and, if they find the petitioner credible, dismiss the ticket.

The people getting these privileges, worth thousands of dollars each year, certainly shouldn't mind spending 15 minutes a month on basic paperwork.

DANNY BURSTEIN

Editor's note: Mr. Burstein is a former officer of Emergency Medical Service Local 2507 of District Council 37.