Chinatown Placard Abusers Get the Hook

It looks like 5th Precinct Commanding Officer Gin Yee, the Sheriff of Chinatown, is laying down the law once again. A Streetsblog tipster spotted these tow trucks as they were removing government placard abusers from their illegal parking spots in Chinatown. While it’s refreshing to see the police “towing their own,” the tipster notes that as soon as the trucks pulled away a new group of placard abusing government employees swooped in to claim the empty parking spaces.

If you squint your eyes, you can almost see the temporary “No Permit Parking” notice in the photo below. It looks like a piece of printer paper taped beneath the red “No Standing” sign. Manhattan Community Board 3 has asked the Department of Transportation to install “No Permit Parking” signs throughout Chinatown. Perhaps they also need to ask for a roving squadron of tow trucks to patrol their neighborhood. That would help police and court officers get the picture that Lower Manhattan is more than just their personal parking lot.