Justin Brannan

Friday’s Headlines: Parking Ticket The Rich Edition

Council Member Justin Brannan wants to give the city the power to vary financial penalties for civil infractions like illegal parking based on the wealth of the violator. Plus other news.

By David Meyer

12:03 AM EDT on April 28, 2023

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.

Civil fines & penalties should be based on two main things: the gravity of the offense and the offender’s daily income. I didn't make this up – many European countries have had a day-fine system in place for over 100 years and it works. https://t.co/HjHW4junOm
— Justin Brannan (@JustinBrannan) April 27, 2023

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)

Final MTA numbers in state budget:

-Payroll mobility tax on NYC businesses, expected to generate more than $1 Billion per year
-City will pay $165 Million per year
-2 year pilot program for free bus service in NYC. 1 route in each borough
— Zack Fink (@ZackFinkNews) April 28, 2023

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:

David Meyer

David was Streetsblog's do-it-all New York City beat reporter from 2015 to 2019. He returned as an editor in 2023 after a three-year stint at the New York Post.

Justin Brannan | Parking | Traffic Enforcement | Traffic Justice

Comments Are Temporarily Disabled

Streetsblog is in the process of migrating our commenting system. During this transition, commenting is temporarily unavailable.

Once the migration is complete, you will be able to log back in and will have full access to your comment history. We appreciate your patience and look forward to having you back in the conversation soon.