A number of police unions representing different segments of the NYPD filed a joint complaint against the City with the Board of Collective Bargaining, saying that Mayor Bloomberg's effort to cut the number of park-anywhere-you-feel-like placards is an economic hardship and a violation of state labor laws. The suit does acknowledge that there is nothing in union contracts regarding the issuance of placards, however. One of Bloomberg's anti-congestion initiatives has been to reduce the vast......

One of the lead detectives in the murder of Imette St. Guillen was ticketed and suspended for using a photocopied parking placard in Brooklyn last week. The ticket was issued in front of the Brooklyn Supreme Court, where Det. Sean McTighe parked in front of a fire hydrant. According to Daily News sources, the detective, a member of the Brooklyn North Homicide Squad, was on duty when he parked his personal car in front of......

A survey conducted by the Transportation Dept. and released yesterday [pdf file] illustrated the sorry state of parking in lower Manhattan. The survey showed that the number of cars far exceeded the number of available parking spots in the financial district, unless one possessed a city parking placard.In the area it covered, largely the area south of Canal Street, there were only 1,105 metered parking spaces and 871 unregulated spaces available to the drivers......

Demonstrating just how valuable free parking in New York City is, a rash of smash and grab thefts has struck areas in Washington Heights and the Bronx, where firefighters have had their car windows broken and parking placards stolen. Most of the thefts have occurred right outside of firehouses, usually when members are called out to a fire, according to the New York Post. The recent increase in placard jacking began shortly after Mayor Bloomberg......