The Campaign

Because the City of New York has been unresponsive to the problem, even when presented with studies and press stories about rampant permit abuse, Uncivilservants.org will be a constant reminder that the issue has not gone away. This site has been designed to give as much information to the public about how permits are issued, how they should be used, and how they are continuously abused. Community groups, residents, and local businesses hurt by illegal parking now have a resource to be sure the abuse doesn't go unheeded. Unlike complaints referred to 311 that often result in actions that don't alleviate the problem, with our legal team, we will be following up with agency heads on every instance of abuse that is documented with sufficient data.

While many agencies abuse permits, there are only two individuals that have the power to put a stop to the abuse citywide: Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly. With a simple order, they could mandate that NYPD's enforcement division enforce existing traffic laws on permit abusers, which would eliminate most of the abuse overnight. Not only would this be a sign to the communities where business is conducted that the government respects their safety and quality of life, it would significantly reduce the number of government workers who commute by car, which is 2-3 times the rate of the private sector (given the conservative estimate of at least 150,000 permits on the streets, this is a significant part of the traffic problem). In addition to traffic reductions, this would allow local businesses to have much needed vehicular turnover at the meters in front of their shops and contribute to the health of the economy.

In many cases, agency members argue that permits are necessary for official business. Uncivilservants.org is clearly not intended to interrupt the necessary use of valid permits for Official Business. Such an assertion is specious and meant to distract from illegal parking while using a government-issued permit. Likewise, it is not acceptable to imply that commuting to work by private car is Official Business. Commutation to and from work is not considered Official Business by either the NYC Department of Transportation or the NYC Department of Finance when considering summonses.

Another common assertion is that permits are a perk of the job (in the case of NYPD rookies, this is especially understandable). But arguing that permit abuse won't stop until the NYPD has a better contract is simply pushing the problem onto the public in the form of illegally parked cars overrunning many neighborhoods. Courtesy, Professionalism, and Respect should extend to parking.

That's where we come back to Mayor Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Kelly: this is your problem to fix. If you are serious about the interests of your city and the men and women sworn to uphold the laws, you must address the problem. If that requires (in addition to enforcing the law) a return to the collective bargaining table with a good faith effort to work out new salaries, we support it. If that requires monetizing the annual value of the permits and establishing a parking permit "cash out" program to reward government workers who would take transit by giving them money back for their permits, we support it. If that requires building new parking lots under precincts to get vehicles off the streets, we support it. If that means fulfilling campaign promises to "curb privileged parking" and rescind privileges "unless there is a demonstrable need for on-street parking," then we certainly support it.

We can't, however, wait for any more press conferences vowing crackdowns, only to discover that the enforcement blitzes last a mere week or two.

Primary Elements of the Campaign

Uncivilservants.org
The campaign to eliminate government parking permit abuse begins with users of this website, which will allow New Yorkers to post photos of vehicles abusing parking permits. The website is designed to capture the necessary information about individual permit abuse, and is intended to put the onus on the agency managers and chiefs who are responsible for the actions of their employees. While the site shows individuals breaking the law, it is not meant to single out any one person. Users of the site are protected by First Amendment liberties that allow for photographing in public spaces, even if that information is shared on the internet. Individual abusers of permits know when they are breaking the law on public streets and sidewalks, and cannot hide behind claims of "security" or "privacy."

FOIL Inquiry Process
For each agency employing parking permit abusers, a legal team will use the New York Freedom of Information Law ("FOIL") to find out how permits are issued, which permits are valid, when permits may be properly used, who supervises the permit abusers and whether there is a formal complaint procedure. Complaints will then be submitted formally (if possible) and will also be forwarded to agency heads and managers of permit abusers. Results of these efforts will be made available from time to time on the website.

Parking Placard Information Bill
Good governance legislation has been introduced in the City Council that would require the Mayor’s Management Report to detail the number of parking placards issued by every agency in the City every year. This legislation is a very significant first step to bring transparency to a process that permits many fraudulent and fake permits to be used with impunity on New York City's streets. Despite our best efforts to develop precise totals for permits issued in New York City (including NYPD Restricted and Teacher permits, which are used indiscriminately throughout the city without regard to the limitations on them), we can only provide rough estimates. A modern American city concerned with transparency and good governance should expect nothing less that an honest count of parking permits.