This driver think his/her car is a taxi.

Parked most every morning right out side restaurant.

In the area surrounding the Chelsea Market you'll see a fair number of expired NYPD permits. This Scooby Doo-style van has one from Technical Support Services. Irrespective of their expired status—and Mayor Bloomberg isn't going to renew a lot of them, ever—this van owner has Pennsylvania plates and parks daily in a No Standing US Mail zone. Which means—if you bother to regularly observe the mail trucks trying to unload at this post office—they have to block traffic and/or the bike lane as a result. On the other side of Ninth Avenue, the street can't even be cleaned in the morning because so many vehicles sporting a variety of NYPD/federal permits park semi-permanently in the No Standing 7am-10am zone. Solution: garage those cars or take public transportation. And register your vehicle in New York State, please; it's the law.

This guy does not work for the post office, yet he has a post office placard, and parks in a No Parking Anytime zone reserved only for Post Office employees.

In one block (St. Nick between 123rd and 122nd), there were seven NYPD cruisers and personal vehicles parked in the bike lane. See this and other posts for photos of scores of NYPD personal vehicles parked on the sidewalk on the same block. Where are pedestrians and cyclists supposed to go?

I'm sure this has been going on a while, but neither time nor painted yellow lines excuse NYPD 28th Precinct police from abusing the sidewalks and bike lanes around the precinct house. The photos speak for themselves, I think.

On the east corner of ninth avenue just south of 30th street, both a postal worker and a traffic control officer, parked in the two spaces for taxi relief. The DMV is more than 4 blocks away from this corner.

Parks Department has notified all holders of "East Drive" placards that they are invalid as of August 15, but this person doesn't care since her permit has been invalid for the prior 18 months.

Now that that Parks department has told holders of "East Drive" placards to move on, there are actually some open spaces on East Drive. But not for long. Nature (and uncivil servants) abhor a vaccuum, so this guy has moved in with his Uniformed Firefighter's placard that does not entitle him to park here.

Recently Parks & Recreation Department told all holders of "East Drive" P&RD placards that their placards were invalid as of August 15, 2007, and that they would need to reapply for a new permit based on need. Apparently some, like this guy, did not get the message, probably because they are not using a valid permit in the first place. Permit expired in 2006 and is good for a Chrysler, not this Mercedes (didn't know operating a carousel could pay so well!).

He's been parked here illegally for at least 2 days.

This guy lives in the neighborhood, yet has Jersey plates. And he parks in a Post Office permit only zone on East 13th between 1st Ave and Ave A. This zone is also frequently abused by local residents with fraudulent or stolen Post Office permits.

And the permit does not have a plate number on it, so who knows if he really is a cop?

In case you want one of your own, they usually leave those underneath mailboxes.

This home-printed permit is almost as ridiculous as the one in the SUV in front of this car.

In my last three trips through the southern portion of the Central Park bridle path, I have yet to find a car without a current permit. Plus, there are many, many fewer cars parked there. There still seem to be a few remaining 24/7 parkers, but most have left and those who remain at least have valid permits (like the guy in the inset photo, lower right, who moved his car just before this photo was taken after leaving it in the same spot for weeks: http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/1042) .

The improvement is undeniable. Thanks Central Park Precinct--that wasn't so hard, was it? And to all who said it couldn't be done . . . eat your heart out! The Central Park bridle path is no longer a place for public employees to dump their unneeded cars!

As we know, some the apparent LE commenters on this site have serious maturity issues, and were so threatened by my posts that they felt the need to insult me personally, and taunt me by insisting that nothing would change and with vows that they would park more often and more illegally in this spot. My message to them is . . . let's have an "honorable peace." I'll limit my posts from this spot to cases of serious abuse (24/7 with invalid permit or no valid permit at all). I'd rather parking at this spot was limited to just to valid commuter uses, but life is too short (and there are too many other hotbeds of placard abuse requiring my attention).

For those still mired their puerile rut--who may insist that nothing has changed, that I am proclaiming a false victory, the photo in this post presents a distorted picture, etc. . .--well, the proof is in my prior photos of the bridle path, taken before uncivilservants started, linked at the bottom. Before March 16, the illegally cars were overflowing from the perpendicular parking area as far east as the pedestrian overpass to the reservoir track. Folks familiar with this part of the park will know exactly what I mean. Now the parallel parking east of the perpendicular parking area has DISAPPEARED.
http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/633

http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/484

http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/486

http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/543

In addition, before March 16, at least 50% of these cars over all, and the vast majority of the cars parallel parked away from the designated parking area, had empty dashes. Just check out the posts from Central park using this query: http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/?sign=13. Now there are NO cars witn an empty dash.

This appears to be one of two cars that remain parked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on the southern portion of the Central Park bridle path without a valid permit. Here he is at 8 pm on Saturday night, parked in the exact same spot he has been in for weeks, if not months. He did come by to do some maintenance on a weekend once (see the linked video below), but the car has not moved:

http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/853

http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/640

http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/708

http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/644

The Central Park precinct has my thanks for shooing away most of the other parking abusers over the two weeks since this site went live. All the LE who like to crow that there will never be parking reform in this spot can just learn to deal with it. Or, if it makes you feel better, you can post untrue comments about how there has been (and will be) no parking reform in this spot.

Apparently this is used as parking for an FDNY dispatch facility located nearby. There should be signage and placards that indicate the facility and the use.

Let's get the remaining "empty dash" cars out of the bridle path.

This guy is parked here almost all the time, there are many posts of his car on this site. He used to use no permit, since uncivilservants.org came on line he's sporting an expired restricted permit from another precinct. If he works here, wouldn't he get a new permit?

It's time for our friend here in the Jeep to move on. I am pretty sure he's parked here long term--he's always in this exact spot at all hours of the day and night. Several of his NYPD buddies who used to park here with expired or no permits have moved on since UncivilServants.org came on line:

http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/708

I definitely appreciate that, guys, thanks.

But this guy remains. His permit is more than a year old. Here are some of the things that happen by his car while its parked out on the bridle path:

http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/640

I checked out the NYPD parking lot in Central Park this morning, and was pleasantly surprised to see it emptier than ever. A number of the "regulars" were gone, in partiuclar the guy with the Brooklyn restricted permit who had left his car there in the same spot for weeks

What this means is, despite all the bluster and threats posted to this site, IT WORKS. Keep those photos coming!

There were still a few regulars parked with invalid or no permits, including the "shade tree mechanic" (http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/640), and this guy (http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/636).

Maybe they actually have a right to park there, and just need to get updated permits. If they do get proper permits, I'll leave them alone.

The Lexus owned by the retired deputy parks commissioner(http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/648) was still there, but the Mazda was gone (http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/647).

I am bothered by this retired Deputy Commissioner thing, even though he seems to have two valid "citywide" permits that say he can park anywhere. I simply can't believe the City has policy of giving out free passes to park in the middle of Central Park with a market value of ~$20,000 per year to retired agency deputy commissioners, in perpetuity. I'm going to keep an eye on this guy until the City actually admits that this is its policy.

The Parks & Recreation Department has a program I call "Central Perks" in which they give out citywide passes to retired administrators allowing them to park their private vehicles in the middle of New Yorkers' precious parkland (http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/648). Here, we see that the program extends to employees of non-public entities (in this case, Historic housing Trust, or HHT) that provide services under contract to the City. This person's citywide permit expired 2 months ago.

In fairness to her, the office of the HHT is located in the Arsenal, right next to where the car is parked, the placard holder is still employed as HHT Exec director, she apparently just didn't get around to getting a new permit.

But if an ordinary civilian forgets to feed the meter, they get ticketed in an instant, and there's no way to talk your way out of it. Not so if you work for the city or a city contractor. Then you get a free pass like this one that many abuse to park anywhere in the city they please for free--in the park, blocking the hydrant, in the crosswalks, in the bus stops, on the sidewalk, etc.

DP&R seems to think that there is no cost to giving out these placards, but the fact is each car they allow into the Park degrades it. In fact, if they give out enough of these "citywide" placards, they essentially have turned our parks into a network of free parking lots for bureaucrats. How many of these passes are out there, exactly? Has DP&R considered alternatives to these free passes, such as reimbursing the cost of contractor employees like this parking at a nearby private lot, or creating a permit parking area on 5th Avenue & 64th Street?

DP&R's disregard for the impact of all their permit printing on ordinary New Yorkers is what makes them uncivil servants.

Looked at some older pics and found one from November 16, 2006, showing illegal parking by a guy who as of today is illegally parked in the same spot for at least 15 days without moving:

http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/map?plate=acg6061&state=NY

In this November 16 shot, the car appears to be in the same spot it is in now, but the odds & ends used strategically to hide portions of the permit are rearranged. Maybe he came by at Christmas and took the car for a spin around the bridle path, just to make sure the engine doesn't seize up. Then, before abandoning the car for another few months, he re-positioned the calling card and the note to once again obscure the expiration date on his permit. This guy is so clever, he'll never get caught!

This guy's permit expired in 2005. what's he doing on the bridle path in Central Park?

“The primary objective of the park is as
a rural resort where the people of all
classes, escaping from the glare, and
glitter, and turmoil of the city might
find relief for the mind, and physical
recreation.”

--EGBERT L. VIELE, Chief Engineer of
Central and Prospect Parks, 1861

This guy has been parked here so long that both his front tires appear to be flat! the note on the dash (no permit) says "P.O Valerio", so I'm calling this one NYPD.

Why complain about these cars on the bridle path? Because they ruin it! Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNTgxk09TgE

My favorite pun--"Central Perk"--is so apt that the Central Park Conservancy has adopted it. As well they should. It so accurately captures all that the city has done to "rescue the park from decay and restore it to its original vision," as the mailer reads (see photo at the bottom).

In fact, here's what Olmstead had to say on the subject:

“Crowded thoroughfares have nothing in common with the park proper, but everything at variance with those agreeable sentiments which we should wish the park to inspire.”

I somehow doubt that back in 1858, Olmstead and Vaux envisioned this guy, with a permit more than a year post-expiration, parking in the middle of park. Not just once, but all the time. Here's the same vehicle, parked in the same spot, on November 16, 2006:

http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/644

And he doesn't just park here, either. Here he is on a third occasion, like a regular shade tree mechanic, idling the engine and doing some maintenance right out on the bridle path on the weekend:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y78Fqjd1g7U

The bottom line is that all the NYPD and other city employees who work near here abuse the public trust by parking here. If a civilian tries to collect evidence to bring the abuse to light, they get questioned, as I did on on one occasion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf7aelGQPDg

Want in on Central Perks? Sorry--its only open to civil servants. Cost to participants: $0. Cost to the rest of New York: Priceless.

Another placard-less civil servant enjoying the perks of public employment by parking in the middle of Central Park.

“We have agreed not to drive our automobiles into cathedrals, concert halls, art museums, private bedrooms and the other sanctums of our culture; we should treat our parks with the same
deference.”

--EDWARD ABBEY, Naturalist

Another placard-less civil servant enjoying the perks of public employment by parking in the middle of Central Park.

Another placard-less civil servant enjoying the perks of public employment by parking in the middle of Central Park.

Another placard-less civil servant enjoying the perks of public employment by parking in the middle of Central Park.

Seeing these civil servants' personal cars parked here adds something inexpressible to a walk through Central Park.

Most of the cars parked here arrive via Central Park Drive West--even on the weekends, when vehicles are banned, and with a single occupant, during the weekdays when the HOV restriction is in place. I once found NYPD running an HOV checkpoint, but they waved through single-occupant vehicles if the driver had a placard or shield. Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAeEmEZI04Y

There is access to this parking lot from the transverse road, but I have never seen that access point used.

As this guy has recognized, the Central Park bridle path is perfect spot to park big, long older cars like his that are hard to park on city streets where the great placard-less mass do their parking.

Another empty dash.

While I photo'd this guy a week in earlier in what appears to be the same spot, he has removed the calendar from the pile of odds & ends on his dash, so maybe he hasn't been parked here the whole time:

http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/489

Repeat offender:

http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/map?state=NY&plate=dln2822&commit=Search

This guy has apparently been parked in the same spot for 5 days. Here he is parked conveniently in front of the sign telling him not to park here, just like he was last week:

http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/542

Likewise, the same pile of garbage has been sitting, undisturbed, in his front passenger seat the whole time. What a pig!

Another public employee taking advantage of that "central perk" of public employment--parking on the bridle path in Central Park without authorization to do so. There are so many unauthorized cars parked in this spot, they are like peas in a pod. I did not by any means document all of them.

Another placardless public employee parking in the park.

Another placardless public employee parking in the park.

Another placardless public employee parking in the park. this guy seems to be a regular:

http://nyc.uncivilservants.org/post/index/490

Looks like another NYPD employee soaking up the free parking. So many in this spot, like peas in a pod.

Appears to be just another NYPD employee, parking his or her personal auto in Central Park without any authorization to do so. There is a cute stuffed doggie on the dash, however. Unless the parking laws are enforced, that doggie in the window is worth much more than the $4.99 the owner paid for it--more like $700+/month, which is what you'd pay for a parking space on East 86th Street.

This guy parks on the bridle path in Central Park using a "Uniformed Firefighters Association" placard. But he's not here to fight fires--he's just come to the park to get a little exercise, like the rest of us. That's OK with me, but why can't he just walk, jog or bike to the park like the rest of us? What entitles him to use Central Park as a "central perk" of public employment? Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWIqK65hoSE

Another presumed civil servant (likely NYPD) parking on the southern portion of the bridle path in Central Park without any authorization to do so.

Another presumed civil servant (likely NYPD) parking on the southern portion of the bridle path in Central Park without any authorization to do so.

Another presumed civil servant (likely NYPD) parking on the southern portion of the bridle path in Central Park. This guy has no permit, but puts a laminated copy of "The Lord's Prayer" on his dash.