Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Justin Brannan

Friday’s Headlines: Parking Ticket The Rich Edition

Council Member Justin Brannan wants the rich to pay steeper fines for civil infractions like illegal parking. Photo: Jeff Reed for NYC Council

Here's a fine idea...

Council Member Justin Brannan wants to give the city the power to charge rich people more for civil infractions like illegal parking, he said Thursday.

It's an interesting idea. Automated enforcement, for all its proven benefits, does little to stop drivers for whom a $50 speeding ticket is a drop in the financial bucket. The same goes for parking tickets. Brannan's new bill doesn't specify which civil violations should be meted out based on income, but he told the Daily News he thought parking should be top of the list.

"Fines should be high enough to discourage people from breaking laws that endanger or inconvenience our neighbors but low enough that they don’t arbitrarily upend anyone’s life,” said Brannan (D-Bay Ridge).

“Why should the guy who double parked his 1988 Toyota pay the same as the guy with the 2024 Bentley?”

Of course, the guy with the 2024 Bentley could easily be worth several billion dollars — it's unclear how high the fine would have to be to prevent someone that rich from illegally parking.

Maybe step one should be some actual enforcement.

In other news:

    • The MTA is killing its incredibly successful Twitter operation after Elon Musk asked it to pay $50K per month. (Bloomberg, NY Post)
    • Albany has a "conceptual" budget deal. (NY Times, Politico)
    • Washington, D.C. canceled a proposed busway there and cited a new free buses program as justification. (DCist)
    • The teen driver who killed three teens in his car in that horrific crash on speedway-like Hylan Boulevard last year was charged. Cops withheld his name because of his age. (SI Advance)
    • New bus driver cockpits are coming to NYC. (TWU Local 100)
    • MTA to buy Second Avenue subway properties for twice their appraised value. (amNY)
    • There'll be a lot less F train service to Coney Island this summer. (Brooklyn Paper)
    • The state's highest court said taxi drivers can't sue New York City over the unfettered expansion of Uber and Lyft since 2013. (Gothamist)
    • Former MTA Chairman H. Dale Hemmerdinger, 1944-2023. (NY Times)
    • A new book chronicles the collapse of American public transit. (CityLab)
    • And, finally, Streetsblog San Francisco Editor Roger Rudick was in town, and, of course, Clarence Eckerson took him to the finest places on earth:

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Analysis: Residential Parking Permits Would Be Bad for City Streets

Congestion pricing isn't driving more people to park Uptown — and even if it did, "hunting licenses" for parking spots wouldn't help.

February 18, 2025

Too Much Illegal Parking Prompts Community Board to Reject New Housing

Even after the city greatly reduced parking mandates in the City of Yes initiative, parking is still at the center of many debates about new housing.

February 18, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines: A Mayor Without an Administration Edition

Four deputy mayors are resigning. Where does that leave our fair city? Plus other news?

February 18, 2025

Monday’s Headlines: Presidents Day Edition

We'll take the day off for the holiday, but we'll still give you a full roundup of news.

February 17, 2025

State DOT Finally Offers Up Proposal To Repair the Cross Bronx Without Expanding It

An option that doesn't involve a parallel road that carries highway traffic but still creates a new east-west connection, had not initially been on the table.

February 17, 2025
See all posts