Drivers, beware.
New York City’s newly adopted budget includes a planned ticket blitz that’s expected to cost motorists some $42 million in the coming months.
The NYPD will reassign 75 workers in its Traffic Enforcement Division to ticket-writing duties to counter the fiscal effects of the coronavirus crisis, a City Council source told The Post on Wednesday.
During fiscal 2020, which ended Tuesday, about $590 million worth of summonses were issued, the source said.
That number was projected to dip to $550 million during fiscal 2021 due to the pandemic, but beefing up enforcement should boost it to at least $592 million, the source said, adding that the number could reach as high as $596 million.
It’s unclear how much revenue would actually be generated by all the ticketing.
A vague reference to the looming crackdown is contained in the $88.2 billion budget for fiscal 2021 that council members adopted early Wednesday.
Mayor de Blasio later defended the money grab during his daily news briefing from City Hall.
“The fact is, the reason someone gets a ticket is if they’re doing something wrong,” he said.
Hizzoner claimed that “we will do enforcement only where it’s appropriate and ensure that people understand there are consequences.”
He didn’t specify which neighborhoods or violations would be targeted.
Fines for noncommercial traffic violations in New York City range from $50 each for offenses that include getting caught on a red-light camera to $180 for parking in a space reserved for people with disabilities.
But some tickets are steeper when issued in Manhattan south of 96th Street, where the fines for most meter violations are $65 each, compared to $35 elsewhere in the city.
http://nypost.com/2020/07/01/nyc-ticket-blitz-will-cost-motorists-over-40m-budget-shows/
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