Lincoln Restler, a Brooklyn-based councilman for New York City, is super focused on illegally parked vehicles. Restler is the sponsor of a bill incentivizing New Yorkers to report illegally parked vehicles.
This bill will allow citizens to gather evidence of illegal parked vehicles (such as videos or pictures of vehicles blocking crosswalks, sidewalks, bike lanes, and school exits and entrances).
Civilians can submit this evidence to the DoT (Department of Transportation). The Department will then send this evidence to the OATH (Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings) to determine the validity of the report.
For every issued ticket, the person reporting it will receive a $44 reward – a 25% share of a recommended $175 ticket fine.
But, not every New Yorker is a fan of the bill.
New York’s streets can be difficult and expensive to park in and Restler’s bill could significantly contribute to this difficulty.
Joseph Pressley, a Brooklyn resident, owes more than $2,000 in parking ticket fines.
Pressley does not believe that more aggressive ticketing is the solution and that more pressing issues – such as young people being murdered without any reason –should be the center of the authorities’ focus. Also Read: Drivers Handed Record 8.6 Million Parking Tickets By Private Firms
The NYPD (New York Police Department) is also an opponent of the bill, claiming that it will pit citizens against each other, leading to street brawls and scuffles that will cause more problems than it solves.
According to the NYPD, traffic enforcement agents who issue summonses are assaulted dozens of times every year. This statute would transfer that threat to the everyday citizens of the city. People will get hurt, which is why the NYPD believes that the responsibility of issuing parking tickets should be left to the traffic agents.
The legislation has yet to pass the council process; Restler expects to schedule a hearing within the next few months.
