Lawmakers are considering bills that would impose a hefty fine for trucks that are illegally parked on New York City streets.
The New York Legislature is currently considering bills that would allow for the issuance of a $1000 fine for trucks parked illegally or left unattended on a city street.
Currently, truck drivers who illegally park on New York City streets only have to pay a towing fee.
From the summary of the State Assembly version of the bill A1557:
Currently, the owners or operators of illegally parked tractor-trailers or semitrailers are not fined. The owners can retrieve their vehicles by simply paying a $160 towing fee. For many tractor-trailer owners or operators, this $160 is a small price to pay compared to what it can cost to legally park a tractor-trailer in a city. The unfortunate result is that residents of many city neighborhoods who must endure crowded, exhaust filled streets are penalized while tractor trailer owners or operators – undeterred by a relatively small towing fee – flagrantly violate the law. A $1,000 fine for tractor-trailers that are illegally parked overnight would help to encourage the legal parking of these
vehicles and help maintain the quality of life in our city neighbor-
hoods.
A version of the bill is also under review in the New York State Senate.
Both bills were introduced in January 2019 but reintroduced in January 2020.
New York City does have fines established for commercial vehicle drivers who park illegally on residential streets.
This isn’t the first time that the problem of finding legal truck parking in New York City has been highlighted this year.
In March 2020, the New York Police Department’s 66th Precinct was called out on social media for an operation to tow illegally parked tractor trailers during the early days of the Coronavirus pandemic, when the supply chain was tested by shoppers who were panic buying goods.
About a month later, New York City opened up two new temporary truck parking areas as part of an initiative to protect the city’s food supply.