Submitted by Here's One for Ya, Nov 25, 2007 20:15

The current Mayor's congestion pricing scheme says that government sector employees, 150,000 vehicles with parking permits [Transportation Alternatives], will not be exempt from congestion pricing. This statement has no credibility whatsoever because of the Mayor's dismal track record on illegal permit abuse — that goes for the D.O.T. and the NYPD also, for all the years of turning a blind eye toward enforcing parking permit regulations and not enforcing No Permit Area regulations. Sure, the Mayor's office said they've reduced the number of placards by a few thousand, but again, we must compared this to 150,000 permit holders, and, the fact that there is no real enforcement of the law in this regard — reducing the number of parking permits by a few thousand means absolutely nothing in this case, and the Mayor knows it. Congestion Pricing therefore stands as an enticement for 150,000 government sector commuters to come and park in Manhattan for "free," albeit illegally.

Community Boards 1, 2 and 3 in lower Manhattan have passed resolutions recently, requesting the D.O.T. to designate No Permit Areas, and to post permanent No Permit Parking signs in their neighborhoods. That is a great start toward enforcement of the law and reducing by many thousands everyday the number of cars coming in to park illegally in Manhattan. Let's be clear here, these are not cars "on official business," these are commuters parking illegally. The 5th Pct has ticketed, towed and confiscated the placards of illegal permit abusers in Chinatown. We need permanent No Permit Parkings signs now to help mitigate the problem on a long term basis.

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