THE COUNCIL OF

THE CITY OF NEW YORK

COREY JOHNSON CITY HALL TELEPHONE

SPEAKER (212) 788-7210
NEW YORK, NY 10007

October 12, 2021

Hon. Dermot F. Shea

Commissioner
New York City Police Department (NYPD)
One Police Plaza
New York, NY 10038

Dear Commissioner Shea:

For the reasons discussed below, we are concerned that NYPD may not be properly
responding to complaints about illegal parking, including complaints relating to improper
parking permit use (i.e., placard abuse). Accordingly, we are requesting additional
information about NYPD’s response to certain 311 service requests (SRs) relating thereto.

Our Investigation

In May through July 2021, the Council’s Oversight and Investigations Division
conducted a field investigation into NYPD’s handling of SRs relating to parking. Our
investigators traveled throughout the city, and, where they observed what appeared to be
illegal vehicle parking conditions, would file an appropriate SR. The investigators would
then wait in the vicinity and observe NYPD’s response to the SR.

Our team filed 50 such SRs. In each case, NYPD claimed to properly respond and
marked the SR as closed. But for 72% (36) of these SRs, our team observed that NYPD
did not properly respond. For example, in some cases, an NYPD vehicle drove by the scene
without any actual investigation; in others, NYPD personnel stopped very briefly at the
scene but took no remedial action. Of most concern, however, our team observed that
NYPD did not respond at all to 28% (14) of the SRs, despite claiming that they did. These
SRs are identified in the attached Appendix, and we are requesting specific additional
information from NYPD relating thereto.
 Additionally, data available through the City’s Open Data Portal1 suggests that
NYPD’s response to SRs relating to illegal parking2 and SRs relating to placard abuse3 has
gotten markedly faster since 2019.4 On its face, this would appear to be a positive
development. But we are concerned that NYPD’s response time is, in some cases,
implausibly fast given that it takes time to travel from one place to another in the city and
given the findings of our field investigation thus far.

For example, in 2019, NYPD responded to only about 2.77% of parking-related

SRs and 0.88% of placard abuse SRs in less than 15 minutes. In 2020, these rates jumped
to about 12.75% (for illegal parking) and 9.32% (for placard abuse). And in 2021 thus far,
these rates stand at about 10.83% (for illegal parking) and 12.72% (for placard abuse). In
other words, between 2019 and 2021, NYPD’s less-than-15-minute response rate roughly
quadrupled for illegal parking SRs and its 2021 rate for placard abuse SRs was over 14
times higher than its 2019 rate.

Perhaps more impressively, for 1,047 SRs (for illegal parking) and four SRs (for
placard abuse) in 2019, NYPD’s response time was less than five minutes. In 2020, the
Department managed a similar feat for 5,398 SRs (for illegal parking) and 149 SRs (for
placard abuse). And in 2021 thus far, the Department has done it 5,157 times (for illegal
parking) and 188 times (for placard abuse).

We are concerned that a less-than-five minute response time does not lend itself to
a thorough investigation of an illegal parking-related SR. While there may be isolated
incidents in which an SR could be validly closed out quickly—such as during periods of
reduced traffic, as the city experienced during the early months of the pandemic5—the SRs

1
NYC OpenData, 311 Service Requests from 2010 to Present, available online at
https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Social-Services/311-Service-Requests-from-2010-to-Present/erm2-
nwe9/data.
2
Complaints which NYPD handled where the “Complaint Type” is “Illegal Parking.”
3
Complaints which NYPD handled where the “Complaint Type” is “Illegal Parking” and the “Descriptor”
is “Parking Permit Improper Use.”
4
For the results described herein, our team included only SRs where NYPD’s response was one of the
following:
 The Police Department responded to the complaint and with the information available observed no
evidence of the violation at the time.
 The Police Department responded to the complaint and determined that police action was not
necessary.
 The Police Department responded to the complaint and took action to fix the condition.
 The Police Department responded and upon arrival those responsible for the condition were gone.
 The Police Department issued a summons in response to the complaint.
 The Police Department responded to the complaint but officers were unable to gain entry to the
premises.
 The Police Department responded to the complaint and a report was prepared.
 The Police Department made an arrest in response to the complaint.
5
Tunnel and bridge crossings for February, March, and April 2020 were 9.3 million, 7.2 million, and 4.0
million, respectively. See Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (Port Authority), Traffic & Volume,
2
detailed in our investigation were filed long after traffic volumes returned to near pre-
pandemic levels.6 Furthermore, the less-than-five-minute response times with respect to
placard abuse are particularly surprising given that the Administration acknowledged in
September 2020 that placard abuse enforcement was not a “focus” during the pandemic.7

Lastly, as you know, Local Law 6/2020 required NYPD to “each week, evaluate no
fewer than 25 blocks or intersections that are experiencing a prevalence of improper use of
parking permits, and no fewer than 25 blocks or intersections that are experiencing
obstruction of bicycle lanes, bus lanes, sidewalks, crosswalks, and fire hydrants by
vehicles,” and to report monthly on such evaluations to the Department of Investigation
(DOI), the Mayor, and the Speaker of the Council. These evaluations were to continue for
six months starting on January 1, 2020. We have received no reports from you, and our
understanding is that, to date, NYPD has not performed any of the evaluations required by
this law.

Enforcement of illegal parking rules isn’t merely an important tool in making sure
drivers are following the rules of the road, it is also a serious safety priority. When vehicles
are parked illegally on sidewalks and in crosswalks or bike lanes, pedestrians, cyclists, and
wheelchair users are diverted into dangerous traffic. With traffic fatalities at their highest
point in nearly a decade,8 illegal parking violations must be taken seriously.

Our Requests

Please provide us with the following information for each SR listed in the attached
Appendix:

1. The name, rank, badge number, and precinct/command of each NYPD member assigned
to handle the SR (“assigned members”) pursuant to NYPD Patrol Guide (PG) § 214-35,
and the time that such assignment was made;

available online at https://www.panynj.gov/bridges-tunnels/en/traffic---volume-information---b-t.html.

Crossings for March 2020 were 28% lower than March 2019, and crossings for April 2020 were about 39%
lower than April 2019. See id.
6
Tunnel and bridge crossings have exceeded 95% of pre-pandemic levels since the week of May 17, 2021.
See Press Release, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (Port Authority), Port Authority Facility
Volumes See Modest Uptick Amid Ongoing Impacts From Covid-19 Pandemic (May 27, 2021), available
online at https://www.panynj.gov/port-authority/en/press-room/press-release-archives/2021-press-
releases/port-authority-facility-volumes-see-modest-uptick.html.
7
NYC Mayor, Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Appears on Inside City Hall (Sept. 14, 2020), available online
at https://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/652-20/transcript-mayor-de-blasio-appears-inside-city-
hall.
8
Winnie Hu, De Blasio Vowed to Make City Streets Safer. They’ve Turned More Deadly, N.Y. Times
(Sept. 30, 2021), available online at https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/30/nyregion/traffic-deaths-
nyc.html.
3
 2. Electronic copies of documents and other information, including photographs and media,
provided by or on behalf of NYPD to the assigned members in relation to the SR;

3. Electronic copies of the notifications provided by the assigned members to the

“Communications Section” pursuant to PG § 214-35(5) and (7) with respect to the SR;

4. An electronic copy of the notification provided by the assigned members to the appropriate
desk officer pursuant to PG § 214-35(8) with respect to the SR;

5. An electronic copy of the notification provided by or on behalf of the assigned members to

the Traffic Management Center pursuant to PG § 214-35 with respect to the SR;

6. An electronic copy of the assigned members’ “activity logs” (see PG § 212-08) for the date
of the SR;

7. For each NYPD vehicle assigned to or otherwise operated by the assigned members on the
date of the SR, an electronic copy of the global positioning system (GPS) location history
of such vehicle for such date from the automatic vehicle locator system or electronic copies
of similar records sufficient to ascertain the exact location of such vehicle throughout such
date;

8. An electronic copy of each summons or other notice of violation issued by NYPD in

connection with such SR;

9. The name, rank, badge number, and precinct/command of the patrol supervisor, platoon
commander/desk officer, special operations lieutenant, neighborhood coordination
sergeant, integrity control officer, and commanding officer/executive officer responsible
for handling the SR pursuant to PG § 214-35; and

10. A list of any other documents or media, including video recordings, that refer to the SR.

Please provide us the materials requested in paragraphs 1 through 9 by October 20,

2021, and the list requested in paragraph 10 by October 25, 2021.

Sincerely,

COREY JOHNSON VANESSA L. GIBSON YDANIS RODRIGUEZ

Speaker Chair, Oversight & Chair, Transportation
Investigations Committee Committee

4
 APPENDIX

SR # Filed Date/Time Closed Date/Time

311-06239393 5/12/21 4:42PM 5/12/21 5:20PM
311-06245913 5/13/21 10:08AM 5/13/21 10:20AM
311-06246256 5/13/21 10:47AM 5/13/21 11:12AM
311-06255577 5/14/21 9:14AM 5/14/21 9:29AM
311-06297739 5/17/21 11:06PM 5/17/21 11:11PM
311-06449128 6/1/21 12:59PM 6/1/21 2:04PM
311-06518574 6/7/21 12:36PM 6/7/21 1:44PM
311-06530531 6/8/21 12:58PM 6/8/21 1:33PM
311-06596871 6/14/21 10:24AM 6/14/21 1:01PM
311-06690437 6/22/21 10:21AM 6/22/21 10:50AM
311-06933405 7/13/21 10:30AM 7/13/21 10:55AM
311-06944243 7/14/21 10:34AM 7/14/21 12:08PM
311-07089028 7/26/21 1:28PM 7/26/21 2:18PM
311-07109344 7/28/21 12:48PM 7/28/21 1:08PM