What's happening
This bill lowers the threshold for towing commercial and passenger vehicles for unpaid parking violations, while raising it for other vehicles.
Why it matters
Increases immediate financial risk for commercial and passenger vehicle owners. , as their vehicles can now be towed for as little as $100 in unpaid parking judgments (down from $350), making it more likely for businesses, livery, and ride-hailing drivers to lose access to their vehicles after fewer unpaid tickets.
Provides greater leniency to owners of other types of vehicles. , who now face towing only when their unpaid parking judgments exceed $350, up from $100—potentially reducing the disruption and financial hardship for everyday drivers who fall behind on tickets.
Shifts enforcement focus toward commercial sectors. , which could encourage better parking compliance among businesses and passenger transportation providers, but might also increase operational costs and logistical challenges for these groups.
Excludes vehicles parked illegally from new protections. , meaning that any vehicle—regardless of type—can still be towed immediately if it is found in a no-parking, no-stopping, or no-standing zone, keeping core safety and traffic flow enforcement unchanged.
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Who cares
Commercial vehicle owners
The bill would lower the threshold for towing their vehicles solely to satisfy parking judgments from more than $350 to more than $100, including interest.
Owners of passenger transportation vehicles covered by section 11-801
Their vehicles would also become eligible for judgment-related towing when outstanding parking judgments, including interest, exceed $100.
Owners of other motor vehicles
The bill would retain the more-than-$350 threshold for judgment-related towing of vehicles outside the specified categories.
New York City parking enforcement officials
The bill would establish different judgment-related towing thresholds by vehicle category while preserving authority to remove illegally parked, stopped or standing vehicles.
Headline styles
Limit Car Towing for Tickets
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to cities
- Referred to cities
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2532
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 13, 2017
Introduced by Sen. GOLDEN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities
AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the removal of motor vehicles for the purpose of satisfying parking violations judgments
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 19-212 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by local law number 65 of the city of New York for the year 2005, is amended to read as follows:
§ 19-212 Limitation on removal of motor vehicles for purposes of satisfying parking violation judgments. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a commercial motor vehicle or a motor vehicle for the transportation of passengers, as such terms are defined in section 11-801 of this chapter shall not be removed from any street or other public area solely for the purpose of satisfying an outstanding judgment or judgments for parking violations against the owner unless the total amount of such judgment or judgments, including interest, is greater than [three] one hundred [fifty] dollars.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a motor vehicle that is not subject to the provisions of subdivision (a) of this section shall not be removed from any street or other public area solely for the purpose of satisfying an outstanding judgment or judgments for parking violations against the owner unless the total amount of such judgment or judgments, including interest, is greater than three hundred fifty dollars.
(c) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to prohibit the removal of a motor vehicle which is illegally parked, stopped or standing.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05990-01-7
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the removal of motor vehicles for the purpose of satisfying parking violations judgments
Purpose
To ensure that commercial motor vehicles or motor vehicles transporting passengers are not removed from the street solely for the purpose of satisfying an outstanding judgment for parking violations unless the violations meet a certain threshold amount.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 of the bill amends section 19-212 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York to create three subdivisions. The current provisions of section 19-212, except the last sentence, are amended and lettered subdivision (a). This amended subdivision provides that a commercial motor vehicle or a motor vehicle for the transportation of passengers must not be removed from any street solely for the purpose of satisfying an outstanding judgment or judgments for parking violations unless the total amount of the judgment including interest is greater than one hundred fifty dollars.
New subdivision (b) provides the same language to apply for all other motor vehicles not subject to subdivision (a), with a judgment amount including interest greater than three hundred fifty dollars.
New subdivision (c) contains the last sentence of section 19-212's current provisions.
Section 2 of the bill provides that this act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have become a law.
Justification
It is vital to increase the level of enforcement a substantial amount for illegally parked commercial vehicles because the fines are not enough in this situation. There are certain areas where commercial vehicles park illegally all the time, and this would increase the options for the city of New York to remove these vehicles. Booting has been shown to be a highly effective method of permanently reducing repeat commercial vehicle parking offenders. As it currently stands, these illegally parked commercial vehicles are booted infrequently because the fine amount is too high and this has caused many issues for the city of New York in certain areas. Fines are not an adequate enforcement tactic at this stage, and this measure will go a long way toward curing this issue with illegally parked commercial vehicles in the city of New York.
Legislative history
2016: S.6246 - Referred to Cities
Fiscal implications
None
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.