Manhattan

Cops Threaten Reporter Over Parking Scandal Report

By Aaron Naparstek

11:36 AM EDT on September 5, 2006

How important are illegal parking perks to New York City government employees? The Daily News reports that CBS Channel 2’s Brendan Keefe received threatening late night phone calls for his continuing coverage of the Lower Manhattan government employee parking scandal. Keefe’s story focused specifically on police officer parking perks:

“Is it unsettling? Yes,” Keefe said. “Is it intimidating? No.”
The calls to his home came after his number was put on NYPD Rant, a Web site not affiliated with the NYPD in any way.
Two of the callers blocked their numbers; one didn’t. Keefe called him back, and the guy admitted he was an officer in Brooklyn.
Ch. 2 is consulting with its attorneys about filing a complaint with the NYPD, according to a spokeswoman.
“What we’re concerned about is there’s an attempt by some people, official or not, to intimidate us to get us off a story,” Keefe said, vowing to not let go.

Aaron Naparstek

Aaron Naparstek is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparstek's journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. He was also one of the original cast members of the "War on Cars" podcast. You can find more of his work on his website.

Manhattan | Parking