Sunday, May 22, 2016

City ticketed trucks illegally, now paying them instead

From the Daily News:

The city Law Department has agreed to pay a whopping $14 million to resolve a federal lawsuit alleging that commercial delivery trucks were improperly issued parking tickets, according to court papers.

The money will be deposited in a fund to be divvied up by hundreds of companies that are members of the New York Trucking and Delivery Association, which filed the class action suit nearly five years ago in Brooklyn Federal Court.

The suit alleged that city officials had cooked up a scheme to raise revenue by skirting a little known "Stipulated Fine Program" launched in 2004 that essentially allows trucks to legally double park outside the boundaries of 14th St. to 60th St. and First Ave. to Eighth Ave. while making deliveries.

Under the program, a double parking ticket can only be issued if there is an open parking space within 100 feet of the truck or if it is double parked for more than 30 minutes without visible activity.

But in May 2006, traffic agents began plastering double-parked trucks with more costly tickets for obstructing a traffic lane, which is a violation not covered under the program — and the Trucking and Delivery Association cried foul.

6 comments:

JQ LLC said...

This was a pretty rotten scheme to get revenue. What do these delivery guys, who are not Fed ex, ups, or the postal service (people should see how some of these jerks drive and park their trucks) have to do to do their jobs. I can only picture how bike lanes played a factor in this.Yet another case of profligate waste that could have been prevented, and now the taxpayers have to pay for this arbitrary bullshit.

Anonymous said...

I understand the city made $1 billion in parking violations last year!!! Another tax for the middle and working class.

Joe Moretti said...

But in the meantime, the City does absolutely nothing with the big problem of large trucks illegally driving on residential streets which pose noise, safety and health issues.

Always going the easy path.

Anonymous said...

I drove in NYC for Fed Ex,got tickets everyday,all trucking companies pay 10 percent of total once a year,that was the deal the city made,what has happened is the city needs more but can't brake the deal so they just issue more,liberal utopia cost money to run,can't squeeze the working class for anymore REVENUE REVENUE REVENUE

Anonymous said...

Forget trucks. How about those lazy slobs who double park on major thoroughfares in neighborhoods because they can't be bothered to find a legal parking space, and thus reduce traffic flow to one lane, especially during rush hour? I NEVER see any parking violation officer there or any tickets on their cars. But let someone sit in their car waiting for a specific person to finish leaving a parking space on a quiet residential street and BINGO! You get a ticket.

Our local precinct is not there to "protect and serve". It's there to provide an opportunity for the thugs passing as policemen to get their skinhead on. You never saw such rude and nasty people in public service like these. Instead of suggesting that someone with their turn signal on, who is obviously waiting for a person to vacate a particular place so they can park there, move their car, they just slap a $120 ticket into your hand. When asked why they didn't just ask you to move along, this thug threw back his head and laughed, "Then we couldn't give you a ticket!"

Just another reason why NYC sucks.

Anonymous said...

@Joe Moretti: "But in the meantime, the City does absolutely nothing with the big problem of large trucks illegally driving on residential streets which pose noise, safety and health issues."

Let us be realistic Mr. Moretti, stopping the trucks from illegally driving on residential streets would be an act of decent, law-affirming humanism and that simply does not exist in this city when everyone is on the take.