Parking With Grace
For my first blog post in a week (sorry, gentle readers), I want to pick up where I left off: the matter of parking enforcement in New York City.
In our news today we're reporting on the City Council passing legislation calling for a "grace period" of five minutes. That means a parking enforcement agent can't hand out a citation until at least five-minutes after time has run out for a vehicle (this only applies to muni-meters, those blue terminals with which drivers pay for a certain amount of parking time, then display the time-stamped receipt on the dashboard. Standard parking meters which use quarters aren't included in the new law, because there's no way of telling exactly when the time expired.)
Mayor Bloomberg openly despises the "grace period" concept, and says he'll veto the legislation. He says it will result in "chaos" and more, not fewer disputes, over the validity of parking citations. But council members supporting it easily have the votes to override.
I'm all for grace periods; life's tough enough. And the Bloomberg administration's aggressive use of parking enforcement to create a larger revenue stream for the city has become obnoxious. Having said that, this legislation seems a little silly for a few reasons. For one thing, what percentage of people whose time has expired will be able to get there within five minutes? I'm going to guess that most drivers will be nowhere in sight even after the grace period. Likewise with the parking agents: while I'm sure there are some of them who "sit on" the clock and write up citations the second time expires for a parked car, I'll bet most of them don't have the luxury of doing that. If they have "quotas" to meet (which in my previous post I assumed they do) they're not going to reach it standing around and waiting for the tick-tick-tick of the clock expiring on any occasional violators-in-progress they happen to stumble across. And, yes, it will lead to more disputes over whether it's a legitimate ticket: if everyone's watch is showing something slightly different on the original time expiration--the logic for the grace period law-- they're going to be showing the same difference five minutes later.
The council should give driver/parkers THIS break, instead: the amount paid now for 60-minutes of parking time should get drivers 65-minutes. That way, it amounts to a discount on parking prices, AND it makes the driver and the driver alone responsible for getting back by expiration time, with the extra five minutes already included.
Your thoughts, please.
| Search Blog
|
Comments: 3
Whichever council member argues that 5 minutes will allow for leniency or 'a break' for motorists is obviously pandering to their constituents. Why stop at 5 minutes? Why not 7 minutes? Or better yet 10? The number is arbitrary.
I understand the frustration of getting a parking ticket. I have gotten my fair share. But let's be honest; my delinquency resulted in revenue for our city. And if I had been a little more responsible, if I had not hoped that I could get away with it, then I would not have gotten that ticket.
I think your 65 minute suggestion is an excellent middle ground.
While this move is a nice gesture, it probably won't accomplish the goal it intended. Those who get the ticket will probably continue to get them, those who illegally parked will probably continue to get away from it.
"And the Bloomberg administration's aggressive use of parking enforcement to create a larger revenue stream for the city has become obnoxious."
Just like I said, parking (or traffic) tickets is an alternative way for the city to make big money in order to close the budget gap. It is not really a secret. They either give out tickets or rise/set new taxes, or the mandatory new (ugly) license plate. It comes out from your pocket either way.
Since I've seen ticket agents who write a ticket the moment that it expires, it would give someone who is trying to pay a moment or two to get there before that orange envelope is waiting for them.
I've even seen 5 officers standing around a single car, all with the ticket pads out. Even officers actively measuring the lettering on a truck and writing a ticket because the lettering was an eighth of inch too short to be considered legal. Seriously, it's out of control.