Greenfield Introduces Bill To Stop City From Towing Parked Cars

Parking Wars isn’t just a TV show anymore.

According to a report just posted by Politicker NY, today Councilman David Greenfield struck a blow for law breaking drivers everywhere, introducing legislation at a City Council meeting that would prevent the city from towing illegally parked cars.

Greenfield insists the bill makes sense, pointing to the time and expense required by car owners to retrieve their vehicles after being towed for minor parking violations.

From Politicker NY:

“Any driver who has been towed knows that a trip to the impound lot can be one of the most frustrating experiences in New York City. This bill would give drivers a chance to pay their debts to the city without wasting an entire day trying to retrieve their vehicle. What’s more it would save driver’s at least $150 in towing and storage fees. It’s a simple and fair way for the city to enforce its parking laws without excessively punishing drivers,” Councilman Greenfield said in a statement about the bill.

Councilman Greenfield proposes the city use “boot” devices to penalize parking violations instead of towing. Cars would still be towed if they remained in an illegal spot for over 72 hours.

In lieu of spending the day trying to find their car in parking lot limbo, drivers would merely have to pay a $50 administrative fee – in addition to outstanding fines – over the phone in order to get themselves back into the driver’s seat. Once paid up, offenders would be issued a code to unlock the boot, which the driver would then have to return to avoid incurring another fee.

As of this afternoon, nine council members have signed on to co-sponsor the legislation. The Automobile Association of America or AAA has also expressed support for the bill.

Greenfield has proved himself to be an ally to those who run foul of the city’s parking regulations. Last year, he attempted to put an end to the ugly parking violation stickers placed on cars during alternate side parking days – first by introducing legislation in April, then by holding hearings with Sanitation officials.