Leaving a permit in the window is NOT illegal. This guy is doing the same thing as 2 other cars, but you only focus on him because he has a peice of paper in his window! He's still not doing anything more or less worse then the other two cars...
"This guy is doing the same thing as 2 other cars, but you only focus on him because he has a peice of paper in his window!"
I don't know if you noticed this or not, but that is the point of this site - to document parking abuse by (supposed) government employees. So that I didn't focus on the the other cars should come as no surprise.
I thought the mission of this site is to fix parking problems in NYC, and to promote alternative transportation as a fix to commuting? If that is the goal, then you should focus on ALL illegal parking. Not just picking on city employees.
When a problem has MANY cuases, picking only one, and blindly attacking it will NEVER fix the problem, you need to attack all sources of the problem, and eventually, you will see results.
The civil servant parkers are not doing anything more wrong then the illegally parked civilians they are parking next too. Everyone cheats on parking in this city. Everyone.
Wow. It's amazing how you manage to keep missing the point, 14 ft. The civilian vehicles that are parked illegally in these pictures are violating the law and should be ticketed. If they are not, it's because enforcement is inadequate. At least they are at risk of getting a ticket, however. The purpose of this site is to illustrate that "civil servant parkers" as you call them, are abusing a priviledge - and not serving civilly (hence the title of the website). They KNOW they are NOT at risk of getting a ticket when illegally parked, although they should be if enforcement was doing its job.
As for the cause, that's easy: poorly written regulations and non-existent enforcement that allowed the institutionalization of an abuse of priviledge untill even genuinely "civil" servants think it is an accepted perk of the job and feel like suckers if they DON'T take advantage of it. Oh, and management that is afraid to antagonize said "civil" servants by improving the clarity of the rules even when the result undermines public confidence and trust in our civil servants (which is probably a lot more valuable, when you think about it, than any benefit gained from the legitimate use of these placards).
Buttle, where do you get your information? Are you just making stuff up again? I know plenty of cops who have gotten parking tickets! It's part of the risk you take parking in this city, civilian or "civil servant". The civil servant is doing the same thing with the same risk, as everyone else.
The only this the plaque in the window does is let the ticket writter know that the car belongs to a fellow civil servant. Nothing wrong with that. The plaque isn't "allowing them to park", it's just identifying the car. NOT ILLEGAL. The ticket writter then can use discression as THEY see fit. This same discression allows them to listen to excuses, and give breaks, again, as THEY see fit. If you don't like it, move out of this city and live somewhere were parking is not a problem!
I think this site has documented quite well that your suggestion that "the civil servant is doing the same thing with the same risk, as everyone else" by parking illegally, is patently false.
And I'd be willing to bet those cops you know who got parking tickets were complaining vocifierously about the "lack of respect" being shown them by their fellow civil servants. In addition, we've certainly heard often enough about fear of retaliation among parking enforcement agents. Hardly discretion.
Also, are you saying that "discretion" can make parking illegally legal??? That's sure what it sounds like you're saying.
And yes, they are in fact breaking the law if they are deliberately trying to circumvent it by abusing their position under color of authority - eg placing the placard in their window in order to avoid a ticket when they know they are parked in violation of the law.
Discretion does not make illegal parking legal, but it does avoid the penalty part. It's the same as if the guy of the white car above came running out and said "oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see the sign, can you give me a break?" or "I really had to pee, so I just ran inside for 2 minutes, can you let me slide?" There is no difference. Discretion is discretion. It's up to the officer to pick why he gives a break when he has observed a violation. This is NOT illegal, and part of everyday life.
After reading all the back and forth arguments and making some points of my own, I conclude that the bottom line is the people posting these photos are the same folk who turn out in numbers to protest the NYPD at every opportunity. They simply want to take shots at the cops for ANY reason they can, since "we live in a police state". If complaining about cops using a "perk" like a parking placard is the point of your existence, you all truly lead a sorry life. There is PLENTY of summons issued to cops parked egregiously wrong, even before the "crackdown". You all simply don't have access to those numbers.
kender6 - you should read the various pages on this site, as well as the pages under http://transalt.org/campaigns/parkingreform, to see the reason for this site. It has nothing to do with the NYPD specifically. The NYPD simply seems to be the agency with the most violations. That, and they are the agency charged with enforcing the law, which is clearly not being enforced, to the detriment of our neighborhoods.
"If complaining about cops using a 'perk' like a parking placard is the point of your existence, you all truly lead a sorry life." It is not the point of anybody's existence. It's an advocacy campaign.
"You all simply don't have access to those numbers." If you'd care to provide them, that would be most welcome.
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Posted on Sun, Jul 13 2008 at 09:41 AM
What about the white car, and the dark SUV?
Posted on Sun, Jul 13 2008 at 12:50 PM
They didn't have placards. Yes, they are still parked illegally. 311 was called.
Posted on Sun, Jul 13 2008 at 05:13 PM
Leaving a permit in the window is NOT illegal. This guy is doing the same thing as 2 other cars, but you only focus on him because he has a peice of paper in his window! He's still not doing anything more or less worse then the other two cars...
Posted on Sun, Jul 13 2008 at 06:06 PM
"This guy is doing the same thing as 2 other cars, but you only focus on him because he has a peice of paper in his window!"
I don't know if you noticed this or not, but that is the point of this site - to document parking abuse by (supposed) government employees. So that I didn't focus on the the other cars should come as no surprise.
Posted on Mon, Jul 14 2008 at 03:50 PM
So the double standard lives on... Cops and firefighters are always wrong, but civilians are free to do as they want! Woohoo!
Posted on Mon, Jul 14 2008 at 04:31 PM
No, 14feet, no double standard here. If, at this point, you still fail to grasp what this site's mission is, then I cannot help you.
Posted on Tue, Jul 15 2008 at 10:09 AM
I thought the mission of this site is to fix parking problems in NYC, and to promote alternative transportation as a fix to commuting? If that is the goal, then you should focus on ALL illegal parking. Not just picking on city employees.
When a problem has MANY cuases, picking only one, and blindly attacking it will NEVER fix the problem, you need to attack all sources of the problem, and eventually, you will see results.
The civil servant parkers are not doing anything more wrong then the illegally parked civilians they are parking next too. Everyone cheats on parking in this city. Everyone.
Posted on Tue, Jul 15 2008 at 09:31 PM
Wow. It's amazing how you manage to keep missing the point, 14 ft. The civilian vehicles that are parked illegally in these pictures are violating the law and should be ticketed. If they are not, it's because enforcement is inadequate. At least they are at risk of getting a ticket, however. The purpose of this site is to illustrate that "civil servant parkers" as you call them, are abusing a priviledge - and not serving civilly (hence the title of the website). They KNOW they are NOT at risk of getting a ticket when illegally parked, although they should be if enforcement was doing its job.
As for the cause, that's easy: poorly written regulations and non-existent enforcement that allowed the institutionalization of an abuse of priviledge untill even genuinely "civil" servants think it is an accepted perk of the job and feel like suckers if they DON'T take advantage of it. Oh, and management that is afraid to antagonize said "civil" servants by improving the clarity of the rules even when the result undermines public confidence and trust in our civil servants (which is probably a lot more valuable, when you think about it, than any benefit gained from the legitimate use of these placards).
Posted on Wed, Jul 16 2008 at 12:07 PM
Buttle, where do you get your information? Are you just making stuff up again? I know plenty of cops who have gotten parking tickets! It's part of the risk you take parking in this city, civilian or "civil servant". The civil servant is doing the same thing with the same risk, as everyone else.
The only this the plaque in the window does is let the ticket writter know that the car belongs to a fellow civil servant. Nothing wrong with that. The plaque isn't "allowing them to park", it's just identifying the car. NOT ILLEGAL. The ticket writter then can use discression as THEY see fit. This same discression allows them to listen to excuses, and give breaks, again, as THEY see fit. If you don't like it, move out of this city and live somewhere were parking is not a problem!
Posted on Thu, Jul 17 2008 at 01:04 AM
I think this site has documented quite well that your suggestion that "the civil servant is doing the same thing with the same risk, as everyone else" by parking illegally, is patently false.
And I'd be willing to bet those cops you know who got parking tickets were complaining vocifierously about the "lack of respect" being shown them by their fellow civil servants. In addition, we've certainly heard often enough about fear of retaliation among parking enforcement agents. Hardly discretion.
Also, are you saying that "discretion" can make parking illegally legal??? That's sure what it sounds like you're saying.
And yes, they are in fact breaking the law if they are deliberately trying to circumvent it by abusing their position under color of authority - eg placing the placard in their window in order to avoid a ticket when they know they are parked in violation of the law.
Incidentally, it's "discretion."
Posted on Thu, Jul 17 2008 at 04:18 PM
Discretion does not make illegal parking legal, but it does avoid the penalty part. It's the same as if the guy of the white car above came running out and said "oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see the sign, can you give me a break?" or "I really had to pee, so I just ran inside for 2 minutes, can you let me slide?" There is no difference. Discretion is discretion. It's up to the officer to pick why he gives a break when he has observed a violation. This is NOT illegal, and part of everyday life.
Posted on Thu, Jul 17 2008 at 04:28 PM
After reading all the back and forth arguments and making some points of my own, I conclude that the bottom line is the people posting these photos are the same folk who turn out in numbers to protest the NYPD at every opportunity. They simply want to take shots at the cops for ANY reason they can, since "we live in a police state". If complaining about cops using a "perk" like a parking placard is the point of your existence, you all truly lead a sorry life. There is PLENTY of summons issued to cops parked egregiously wrong, even before the "crackdown". You all simply don't have access to those numbers.
Posted on Thu, Sep 04 2008 at 11:01 PM
kender6 - you should read the various pages on this site, as well as the pages under http://transalt.org/campaigns/parkingreform, to see the reason for this site. It has nothing to do with the NYPD specifically. The NYPD simply seems to be the agency with the most violations. That, and they are the agency charged with enforcing the law, which is clearly not being enforced, to the detriment of our neighborhoods.
"If complaining about cops using a 'perk' like a parking placard is the point of your existence, you all truly lead a sorry life." It is not the point of anybody's existence. It's an advocacy campaign.
"You all simply don't have access to those numbers." If you'd care to provide them, that would be most welcome.
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