Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
NYPD

NYPD on Parking Perks for Press: Do as We Say, Not as We Do

4:53 PM EDT on April 4, 2016

The City Council’s attempt to return parking privileges to the New York press corps faces opposition, ironically enough, from the New York City Police Department.

Intro. 779, sponsored by transportation committee chair Ydanis Rodriguez and 34 of his colleagues, would allow people with press-designated license plates from New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut to “park where parking or standing is otherwise prohibited except where standing or stopping is prohibited to all motor vehicles” without any time limit or payment, so long as the driver is “engaged in the covering of a news event or matter of public concern.”

A car with state-issued press license plates parked illegally on Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Photo: David Meyer
A car with state-issued press license plates parked illegally on Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Photo: David Meyer
A car with state-issued press license plates parked illegally on Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Photo: David Meyer

While the bill would not provide physical parking placards for press vehicles, the effect would essentially be the same. There are supposed to be limits on the parking privileges conferred by placards, but in practice, placards are routinely abused as a blanket exemption from all parking laws.

“Let me make it clear, our members are not looking for some sort of perk. This is about allowing working journalists to more efficiently relay information to the people of New York City,” said Steve Scott of the New York Press Club. “We can’t do that if we’re circling the block looking for a place to park.”

The press was explicitly given a similar privilege until 2009, when Mayor Michael Bloomberg stripped it as part of a general cutback on placard distribution. Currently, vehicles with state-issued “New York Press” license plates may park in certain press-designated parking zones. Members of the media at today’s hearing conceded they already count on lenient traffic enforcement agents to give them a pass when they park illegally.

The agency with the most placards is NYPD, whose officers have made a laughingstock of the current system by parking their personal vehicles anywhere with impunity, with or without official placards. So it was more than a little ironic that NYPD Inspector Dennis Fulton opposed the expansion of parking perks at today's City Council transportation committee meeting.

Fulton's argument, nevertheless, was spot on. He said the legislation would be “impossible” to enforce. “The police department is concerned that it would be very difficult for a police officer or traffic enforcement agent in the field, after having observed a vehicle parked in a prohibited space or with an expired meter, to determine whether the vehicle is covering a legitimate ‘news event or matters of public concern,’ and is thus parked illegally,” Fulton told the committee.

He added that the law has the “potential to lead to abuses by those who seek to obtain unlimited parking privilege while on personal business.” The same could also be said, of course, about the current placard system that city employees abuse every day.

The bill is conspicuously out-of-step with most of Rodriguez's transportation policy agenda. (Much of the morning was spent touting the upcoming “Car Free Earth Day” initiative). But he defended parking as a “right” for reporters hurrying to cover breaking news.

In his opening statement, Rodriguez touted a reform proposed by Council Member Dan Garodnick, which would cut down on fraudulent parking placards by equipping official placards with barcodes that enforcement agents could verify. But he argued that his legislation was important for ensuring the press can do its job effectively. “We should not be making parking easier for people as this will further incentivize car usage,” Rodriguez said. “However, members of the press do a special job and, it can be argued, are often as important to have on the scene of an emergency as first responders, as information is key to the public."

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Dynamic! MTA Could Hike Congestion Pricing Toll 25% on Gridlock Alert Days

The MTA said it had that power, and modeled it in its environmental assessment (see footnote 2 below), but no one ever reported it, until Wednesday.

December 6, 2023

Judge Orders Trial for Hit-and-Run Driver Who Turned Down ‘Reasonable’ Sentencing Offer

Judge Brendan Lantry turns down driver's request for mere probation for killing a delivery worker in 2022. The trial will start in January.

December 6, 2023

Wednesday’s Headlines: Another Big Day at City Hall Edition

Today is going to be another busy day for the livable streets crowd. So get ready with today's headlines.

December 6, 2023

Reporter’s Notebook: Will Eric Adams Ever Publicly Embrace Congestion Pricing?

The governor, the head of the MTA and the city's leading transit thinkers all celebrated congestion pricing on Tuesday as an historic moment while Mayor Adams spent Tuesday failing to live up to it.

December 6, 2023
See all posts