City Hall said it “will address” the issue of NYPD officers illegally parking on city crosswalks after the US Department of Justice threatened to sue the cops over the issue, officials said.
“Combat parking” — the long-standing tradition of leaving officers’ vehicles perpendicular to the curb around the city’s 77 precincts — was flagged as a major civil rights issue affecting those with disabilities, in to a letter sent to the NYPD by Damian Williams, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Meera Joshi, the deputy mayor for operations in New York City, described the issue as “extremely unacceptable” after officials were questioned about the DOJ’s threat on Tuesday.
“Any vehicle that blocks the path of a pedestrian, especially those with mobility limitations, that is unacceptable, and it is extremely unacceptable when it is a public servant’s vehicle,” Joshi told reporters. “So it is a matter that we take seriously, and we will address.”
The latest action from the city and revelation of the DOJ’s letter, which was sent out in March, comes after The Post reported about the NYPD suddenly cracking down on the practice earlier this month.
The DOJ, however, wants solid proof that the parking rules are being enforced after citing a recent study that found that 91% of precincts have police and city vehicles blocking sidewalks.
City records also revealed that the NYPD only had 80 instances of disciplinary action or permit revocation over the last two years — despite reports of “combat parking” being widespread.
Williams reminded the police department that illegal instances of combat parking are meant to be met with up to a five-day parking penalty, with the law calling on parking permits to be completely revoked “upon three instances of misuse.”
The DOJ is now calling on the NYPD to provide quarterly reports on police parking complaints for the next three years, which should include the corrective action taken by the department, if any.
To accomplish this, the police department was tasked with creating a new method for the public to submit complaints whenever a police or city vehicle is found blocking a pedestrian crosswalk.
Williams also wants the NYPD to implement new parking policies for city vehicles, as well as for the city to provide training for traffic enforcement officers to crack down on violators.
“In the event we determine that we cannot secure compliance voluntarily to correct the deficiencies identified in this letter, the Attorney General may initiate a lawsuit pursuant to the ADA,” the letter from Williams warned.
The DOJ declined to expand on its threat when questioned by The Post.
An NYPD spokesperson told The Post that the department was reviewing the DOJ’s letter.
The DOJ’s involvement came as the city’s own Department of Investigation found rules sometimes go out the window in the NYPD’s “Self-Enforcement Zones” around police precincts in a scathing 44-page report earlier this month.
The NYPD “has no written policies or procedures regarding self-enforcement zones, and the rate of enforcement of parking laws within those zones was significantly lower than outside of those zones,” the DOI wrote.
