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East Village Parking Tickets Dropped by Half, Report Finds

By DNAinfo Staff on September 8, 2011 11:15pm

Nearly half as many people received parking tickets in the East Village in 2010 as in 2009, according to the DNAinfo Crime and Safety Report.
Nearly half as many people received parking tickets in the East Village in 2010 as in 2009, according to the DNAinfo Crime and Safety Report.
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DNAinfo/Jim Scott

By Olivia Scheck and Patrick Hedlund

DNAinfo Staff

MANHATTAN – If you’ve noticed an improvement in the moods of East Village motorists, it might have something to do with the massive drop in parking tickets issued between 2009 and 2010.

The whopping 48.8 percent decline — from 26,200 citations issued to 13,422 — was revealed in DNAinfo.com’s new Crime & Safety Report.

Parking tickets decreased throughout Manhattan by 12.3 percent and in each of the borough's neighborhoods, but nowhere as drastically as in the East Village and Alphabet City. The number of parking tickets issued also fell across the city.

The Lower East Side and Chinatown, for instance, saw only a 5.8 percent decline.

Still, officials and community members were at a loss in explaining why the East Village saw such a significant slide.

Lt. Patrick Ferguson, of the neighborhood's 9th Precinct, was unaware of the reason for the drop-off, but did note the precinct has seen a reduction in accidents this year, as well a significant increase in the number of summonses issued to scofflaw bicyclists.

He added that the NYPD's Traffic Enforcement arm, which issues parking tickets, operates independently from the precinct. 

Community Board 3 district manager Susan Stetzer, who works closely with police in the area, also couldn't speak to the decline.

"That is something I can't explain at all," she said. "It's a good question."

The Department of Transportation's new bike lanes on First and Second avenues has resulted in a reduction in the total number of parking spots on the blocks, though a DOT spokesman referred questions about the ticket decrease to the NYPD.

The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.