New Sheriff in Chinatown

2:46 PM EDT on March 16, 2007

The Fifth Precinct in Lower Manhattan has a new commanding officer, a local boy, Dep. Inspector Gin Yee, and he's not afraid to tow some cars, even if they belong to his co-workers. In fact, he's already towed 15 cars, 12 of which belonged to NYPD officers. Downtown Express reports:

David Eng, who co-owns Fong Inn Too tofu shops on Mott and Division Sts., said he saw Yee confiscate a permit from what he thought was a court employee on Tuesday before ordering the car towed. "I think he instilled fear in him," Eng said.
Eng and Lee said the streets have been mostly clear for tourists and delivery trucks since Tuesday. Dep. Inspector Yee said he has also noticed the streets have been clearer since the crackdown.
"I'm glad this captain is willing to stick out his neck," said Eng. "I haven't met him, but I heard he's a Chinatown boy - he's from the neighborhood; he cares about the community."
Yee said the crackdown was his decision but he has the support of Police Plaza. A police spokesperson said he had not heard about Yee's crackdown. He said it sounded good, before cracking a joke. "He's towing placards now? Cool," said the spokesperson, who did not give his name. "How are we going to get to work?"

Aaron Naparstek

AARON NAPARSTEK is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparsteks 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. Naparstek is the author of "Honku: The Zen Antidote for Road Rage" (Villard, 2003), a book of humorous haiku poetry inspired by the endless motorist sociopathy observed from his apartment window. Prior to launching Streetsblog, Naparstek worked as an interactive media producer, pioneering some of the Web's first music web sites, online communities, live webcasts and social networking services. Naparstek is currently in Cambridge with his wife and two young sons where he is enjoying a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. He has a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Naparstek is a co-founder of the Park Slope Neighbors community group and the Grand Army Plaza Coalition. You can find more of his work here: http://www.naparstek.com.

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