Q: Some time ago, there was a news report saying the state Assembly was considering a bill to allow holders of state-issued handicapped hang-tags special parking privileges on New York City streets – something that previously only the city issued Parking Permits for People with Disabilities allowed. Whatever became of that legislation?

A: The bill in question would amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law to allow vehicles with disability parking permits issued anywhere in the state to park in certain on-street “no parking areas.” After being introduced by upstate members of both the Senate and the Assembly in January, it was referred to the Assembly’s Committee on Rules in June, and will remain there until the legislative body reconvenes this month.

The bill is adamantly opposed by the city’s Department of Transportation. In a memorandum opposing the amendment written in February, the department first set to clarify the record: Any holder of a state-issued parking permit for people with disabilities may indeed park in spots for the handicapped. Because of the shortage of on-street parking, however, those spots are designated only in parking garages, shopping centers, train stations, and the like. The permits issued by the city allow people to park in no parking zones on the street, such as commercial parking areas in Midtown.

The city has argued that allowing holders of disability tags, which hang from the car’s rearview mirror, to park on the street would deplete the already short supply of on-street parking. Abuse is another concern. City residents must have their disability verified by a doctor from the city’s Health Department before receiving the permit. That process has led to the rejection of about 20% of applicants, and “most of these applicants already possess state disability parking permits,” the city wrote in its memo to legislators. Fully 65,000 city residents have the parking permit issued by the state, and of that number only 15,000 have one issued by the city.

City officials warn that passing the legislation would allow five times as many people to park in no parking zones, not to mention the thousands outside the city who hold state-issued permits. Moreover, the city argues, the permit issued by the state is not tied to any particular license plate, making it easy to give the permit to anyone wishing to evade parking laws.

Cynics might argue, however, that the city is merely defending its bureaucratic turf. After all, the city wrote in its memo: “This legislation would make the New York City Disability Parking Permit Program superfluous.”