31-06 54th St., a hot spot for placard abuse 311 complaints in Woodside. It’s unclear why this area sees so many complaints. (Google Maps December 2017)
Sept. 26, 2018 By Nathaly Pesantez
A new report puts Woodside near the top of the list of neighborhoods with the most 311 parking placard abuse complaints in the past year.
The neighborhood came in at number two in a report released yesterday by Localize.city, a website that offers data on city addresses, that analyzes where New Yorkers have filed the most complaints on placard abuse.
The website found that 3,663 complaints about improper use of parking permits were made to 311 citywide from May 23, 2017 (when the city added the type of complaint to its lineup) through Aug. 6, 2018.
On a neighborhood scale, Localize.city found that Woodside had the second highest complaint ratio of 2.48 complaints filed per 1,000 residents–behind the Financial District in Manhattan with 2.56 complaints. The report listed nine neighborhoods with the highest complaint ratios, which included Maspeth, the Rockaways, and Long Island City in ninth place.
Woodside’s second-place position is entirely due to a repeat problem area that the website was able to narrow in on. On a separate list of six citywide hot spot areas, the Woodside address of 31-06 54th St. ranked second, garnering 86 complaints.
It’s unclear why the Woodside address sees so many complaints.
“The hot spots reveal where residents are particularly annoyed and vocal about neighbors abusing placards as well as other parking violations,” said Michal Eisenberg, a data scientist at Localize.city.
The website also notes that complaints about placard abuse overlap, or are interchangeable, with complaints about violating parking sign rules, and can be observed at the Woodside address, which received 64 complaints about violating parking signs.
“People tend to complain about placards when they see them in spots where many others also tend to park illegally,” Eisenberg said. “Or it may be that both violations are occurring simultaneously and people aren’t sure which descriptor to choose when filing their complaint: parking sign violation or placard abuse.”
While the report focuses on placard abuse reporting, it notes that the citywide issue has shown little signs of abating, despite placard abuse complaints only making up 1 percent of all parking-related complaints.
“Although a lot of New Yorkers know that placard abuse is a problem, and City officials are trying to do something about it — including creating a new avenue for complaints through 311 — the number of official complaints are relatively small at this point,” Eisenberg said.
Placard abuse has long been a quality of life issue across the city, with New Yorkers observing thousands of city-issued permit holders using them to park in bus lanes, bike lanes, no standing zones, and other areas without being ticketed.
The City Council recently introduced a bill aimed at cracking down on placard abuse, while Mayor Bill de Blasio vowing earlier this year to take measures against those violating placard rules.
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17 Comments
3106 54th street
Black Tahoe NYS FYB 5145 NYPD placard is the offender for 86 complaints.
LA has two police forces that police the other. I’ve always thought that was a solution for NYC.
Surely The Barber Shop must know something
JVB uses his to break the alternate side cleaning rules on a regular basis. Bike lanes and lost spaces don’t matter when you can abuse your placard!
JVB is entitled! His comfort and convenience are all that counts. We, who pay his salary don’t matter. People get who they vote for…..duh!
Why the surprise??
Can we get the make, color and number of JVB’s car? The we can send pictures of his illegal car to the Post.
I got a fake handicap placard online, with my constant ingrown toenails it can be tough walking long distances. Just hoping they dont crack down on handicap placards. It’s bad out there finding parking and getting worst with the bike lanes taking more parking options away.
Looks like they haven’t yet noticed the firefighters on 51st street.
Please enlighten us on how the firefighters abuse the placard! When the placard is used to park by the firehouse it isn’t abuse!
Why are people complaining about our firefighters “abusing” parking placards? These men and women put their lives on the line for US every day! Do we want them driving around looking for parking? They should have their own parking lot! PATHETIC treatment of firefighters! I am embarrassed by this attitude!
Leave the Firefighters alone If you have a fire they are the ones that can and will risk their lives for you
It’s not just placard abuse. Parking in this neighborhood is impossible and the 114th refuses to enforce the law. There are at least 5 commercial vehicles (with commercial plates) that park overnight every night. And walk around the block from this photo to 31-12 55th St. There is an abandoned tan Kia Sephia with expired Maryland plates 4CS8007 (and a blue Toyota pick up with the same expired plate parked right in front of it). I filed a complaint with 31 on 7/24. They yellow chalked it but it’s still there! Both should be towed.
Disgruntled – I am not sure of 31st ave and 55th street but the overwhelming majority of area serviced by the Sumnyside Post is assigned to 108 Pct.
55st & 31ave is part of CB#1 therefore 114pct boundary.
Stop snitching
Put an empty bag of peanut M&Ms on your dashboard and the metermaids will skip your ticket. True story, my dad’s a cop.
The real problem of parking placard abuse is not the illegal parking (though that is bad) but the absence of ticket-writing by the police. This culture of police not ticketing their own has to stop, but I am not sure whether 311 complaints are doing anything about it. It would be interesting to see how long it takes the police to respond to any of these complaints, compare this delay with other “quality-of-life complaint responses at the same time in the same precinct, and how often the result was an enforcement action (and what), then find out why so late and why no action. Localize.city, unfortunately, does not provide that level of data, or does it?