Beginning May 2nd, 2022, New York City is raising the discounted fines for certain New York City parking tickets issued to companies enrolled in the stipulated fine and commercial abatement programs. The return of in-person hearings is welcome news for commercial firms, who have been barred from having their parking tickets adjudicated live in person since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The stipulated fine and commercial abatement programs are a tradeoff between the city and commercial fleets. For not contesting parking tickets, New York City gave the companies a discount on certain violations (those usually beatable with proof). The thinking is that it saves both the city and the companies the time and the cost of live hearings on every single ticket. Of course, this is a tacit acknowledgment that the city has failed to provide adequate parking spaces for commercial deliveries and service calls. Let’s be clear it is not discounted fines that are causing traffic and congestion, the causes are, the city’s removal of traffic and parking lanes, overdevelopment, outdoor dining, and increased construction while simultaneously failing to adapt to the growing demand caused by ecommerce, as well as changing consumer, worker, and commuter trends.
The most egregious of these changes is charging companies $65 (up from $35) for double parking which is completely legal for commercial vehicles expeditiously making deliveries or service calls outside of Midtown Manhattan. Why on earth should a company pay a dime to the city for a ticket that ought to be dismissed?! Pre-pandemic, there were an estimated 2,700 companies enrolled in the stipulated fine and commercial abatement programs who made a deal with the city in good faith who will now have their costs increase. Not a great show by NYC that they are open for business.
The updated fine schedule is below:
Leave a Reply