John Jay College exists to teach aspiring police officers and prosecutors how to enforce the law. Presumably there are a number of courses that emphasize why it is important for all members of society to uphold the law. Ironically, one member of the college community believes that the importance of upholding the law applies only to those who lack the privileged status of a government-issued parking permit on a government-issued car.

The agency business permit displayed on the dashboard of this minivan has the license plate of the black four-door Chevy Impala that is usually parked here.

(See previous posts:

http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/12261

http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/10734 )

This minivan also has official plates, so my guess is the Impala is in the shop and its owner borrowed another John Jay car to drive home for the night. Because the thought of actually riding the D train, which goes right from John Jay College to this location, must be unbearable.

The agency business permit being abused in this case is supposed to be used for no more than three hours, and only for business purposes. Cars with official plates are supposed to be used by government officials "in the course of their official duties." But this car is usually parked all night and on weekends in a no-parking zone. I'll give its driver a small amount of credit for trying to avoid blocking the crosswalk as much as possible while still parking illegally.

So here we have what I suspect is a violation of the use of an official car, a placard use violation, and the wrong placard in the wrong car. Will any of this ever be enforced? Of course not. Therefore, DOT needs to raise the striped no-parking area into a sidewalk extension/bulb-out. The only way to truly prevent parking abuse is to make it physically impossible.

Note the Mercedes to the left that is also violating the no-parking zone. (This was during a Yankee game.) The driver was in the car at the time this photo was taken, so presumably he'd move if asked. Not that that makes it any better.

Since we last checked in ( http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/10734 ) on this apparent plate abuser / placard abuser from John Jay College, nothing has happened except he or she has updated his or her placard after the old one expired on Feb. 1, 2010.

PLACARD VIOLATION:

This is an Agency Business Parking Permit that is to be used for no more than 3-hours at a time while on official agency business. Yet, the car is parked overnight most nights and all day on weekends in a residential neighborhood 100 blocks north of the campus.

PLATE VIOLATION:

This person is using a car that has official plates. According to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles ( http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/forms/mv653.pdf ): "A vehicle assigned Official plates must be owned or controlled by a political subdivision and operated by its employees, or specifically designated agents thereof, in the course of their official duties."

It seems unlikely that this car is being used for official duties, violating both the reason for having official plates and the Agency Business Parking Permit. However, there is the possibility that this is legit. Besides parked next to a number of apartment buildings, the car is also being parked across the street from the Bronx County Courthouse. Is there is some reason why a person from John Jay College would need to have a car parked across the street from the Bronx County Courthouse during nights and weekends? It is not inconceivable. If that is the case, I will stand corrected and withdraw this allegation of misuse of placard and plates. Only the UncivilServants FOIL request can help answer that question.

A FINAL NOTE OF IRONY:

John Jay College trains students to become law enforcement personnel. It is a little ironic that a member of that school is apparently failing to uphold the law in his or her own personal life. This pretty much speaks to the larger problem here, no?

I probably wouldn't care that much about this situation if the car wasn't always parked in the crosswalk.

Here we have a case where someone who is supposed to use a car for "agency business" for periods of no more than three hours actually takes the car home each night and parks it in a crosswalk. This placard is issued by John Jay College, which is located at Tenth Avenue and 58th Street in Midtown Manhattan. However, this vehicle is parked 100 blocks to the north during non-business hours.

I frequently see this car parked when I pass through there on my way to work between the hours of 6:15 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. It always looks like it has been there for hours.

This car is parked in a striped/painted bulb at the corner connecting two crosswalks to the sidewalk. No vehicles are allowed to park in this striped area. However, the placard-bearer evidently believes that his or her placard puts him or her above the rules.

In these photos, this vehicle is partially blocking one of the crosswalks. On some mornings, the blockage is more severe.