It\u2019s enough to drive this pol mad.<\/p>\n
Scores of illegally-parked vehicles \u2013 mostly driven by city workers and contractors \u2013 in downtown Brooklyn are brazenly flouting the law, prompting \u201cdangerous\u201d road conditions for passersby, a new bombshell report revealed.<\/p>\n
A slew of cars using government placards were illegally parked on Adams Street with scant enforcement Monday afternoon. Gregory P. Mango<\/p>\n
A survey released Monday by City Councilman Lincoln Restler\u2019s office found an average of 457 illegally-parked cars daily across 60 blocks of downtown Brooklyn, between May 26 and June 20, using government placards, phony placards or signs like NYPD vests \u2013 with only 3% ticketed.<\/p>\n
Dozens of vehicles in no-standing zones, bus stops and painted buffer zones sported placards from the sheriff\u2019s office, district attorney\u2019s office, New York State Court Officers\u2019 Association and US Postal Service as well as marked and unmarked NYPD squad cars, a Post reporter observed Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n
One white Jeep with Florida plates was parked halfway on the curb amid busy rush-hour traffic along Brooklyn Bridge Boulevard. Another worker with New Jersey plates shrugged and pointed to her court officers\u2019 placard, when confronted by the reporter about illegally parking her vehicle.<\/p>\n
City Councilman Lincoln Restler (pictured) stands next to an illegally parked vehicle with a government placard. Gregory P. Mango<\/p>\n
\u201cIllegal parking has taken over every block of Downtown Brooklyn,\u201d Restler said, noting the vehicles also block sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes and loading zones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is negligible enforcement against illegal parking,\u201d he added, \u201cand it\u2019s time that we take action to abolish government placards and improve street designs to make Downtown Brooklyn safer for all.\u201d<\/p>\n
An NYPD spokesperson refuted Restler\u2019s claims, noting the department has \u201caggressively\u201d addressed illegal parking in the precinct, with 113,429 parking summonses, including 821 placard summonses, 2,018 vehicles towed and 511 vehicles booted this year to date.<\/p>\n
The NYPD also recently installed \u201cTow Away Zone\u201d signage at Tillary and Navy streets underneath the Brooklyn Queens Expressway to curb illegal parking, according to the spokesperson.<\/p>\n
One of dozens of legal government placards spotted inside illegally parked vehicles in downtown Brooklyn. Gregory P. Mango<\/p>\n
Restler, however, called the continued brouhaha polluting Brooklyn streets \u201cinexcusable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need real enforcement,\u201d he told The Post. \u201cWe need to hold city workers, state workers, court workers accountable for parking illegally all across the neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n
Illegal parking was centered around government buildings, the survey identified \u2013 with an average of 63 illegally parked vehicles found daily outside the Kings County Courthouse on Adams Street from Joralemon to Johnson streets.<\/p>\n
More than 60% of those parked outside the courthouse had official placards, despite a 36-vehicle private parking lot and an additional 180 on-street spots for court workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need real enforcement,\u201d Restler told The Post. Gregory P. Mango<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, blocks surrounding the 84th Precinct, FDNY Engine 207 station house and NYPD Transit Special Victims Unit on Gold Street had an average of 102 illegally parked cars each day, according to the survey.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s to the point where it\u2019s common: Everybody knows that the government guys [are]\u00a0going to take up all the spots, but \u2026 they don\u2019t have the right to,\u201d quipped motorist Victor Newberry, 65, who himself was illegally parked outside a Johnson Street post office.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think that they need to be responsible like we got to be responsible, and if not then they have to get a ticket,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is\u00a0quite\u00a0unfair, because I feel they\u2019re supposed to have a place for the government to be parked,\u201d said Prince John, 58, a security worker and Uber delivery driver from Brooklyn, who was\u00a0illegally idling in a state judiciary parking zone after circling the block near the post office for several minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think that they need to be responsible like we got to be responsible, and if not then they have to get a ticket,\u201d quipped one motorist. Gregory P. Mango<\/p>\n
Restler is currently pushing legislation in City Council to revoke 60,000 city-issued parking placards. <\/a><\/p>\n