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Q&A
Council Member Narcisse questions DOF on parking violation penalties and payment options
0:55:04
·
3 min
Council Member Mercedes Narcisse engages in a Q&A session with Agnes Rusin from the Department of Finance regarding Intro 340, which proposes changes to parking violation penalties. Narcisse emphasizes the need for a fair system that considers the challenges faced by low-income New Yorkers.
- Narcisse questions the effectiveness of current payment options, particularly for those without smartphones or internet access.
- The DOF representative lacks specific data on the usage of mobile apps for resolving parking violations.
- Narcisse expresses concern about the high number of unpaid parking tickets and the effectiveness of the current penalty system.
Mercedes Narcisse
0:55:04
Once again thank you chair, thank you for being here and before I start I have to say rest in peace to Pope Francis and all the Roman Catholic that's suffering today knowing that we have an angel above.
0:55:21
I want to say that I heard you, you know, of the but the bill that I proposed, the three forty, it is not to disrupt the penalty structure but to provide a reasonable, we want to be reasonable and to be fair for those that cannot and opportunity to catch up to respond to the violations.
0:55:48
That's the whole goal of it and some of the recommendation that you propose I think is not practical for those that cannot because they want, some folks want to, let's be honest and there's a lot of challenges around.
0:56:03
You printed out the pay or to dispute the app and self serving parking kiosks as an option for residents to resolve parking violations, right?
0:56:16
So I want to know what data do you have on how effectively these options are being used particularly by low income New Yorkers or those without access to smartphone?
Agnes Rusin
0:56:32
So council member, thank you for your questions.
0:56:34
I don't have the numbers in front of me when it comes to the usage of the Apple mobile app.
0:56:42
I will provide it to you.
Mercedes Narcisse
0:56:45
But now you know it's a problem because the fact that you don't think it's a good idea but you're not giving me data to help me process it better to see how we can you know actually be fair to those that have a lot of challenges especially financial challenges to pay their tickets.
0:57:07
So we're trying to bring solution to the problem.
0:57:10
Giving that approximately 30% of parking tickets in New York City, about 5,000,000 tickets remain unpaid even with the current penalty escalation system that you have.
0:57:24
How effective do you believe the system is encouraging compliance?
Agnes Rusin
0:57:30
So council member, the respondents have several options to address the parking violation.
0:57:37
One of the options is to have a hearing and there are several channels to request a hearing, either by walk in to one of our business centers or request a hearing by mobile app or by mail.
0:57:53
And also it is very convenient to pay the parking violation even before the first penalty is added.
Mercedes Narcisse
0:58:02
In all due respect, it's not practical because if you have people not being compliant to what you have, the structure you have, you have to look into the challenges that we face in New York City, especially for the middle class.
0:58:13
Thank you chair.