Move over Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, there's a new unlikely candidate for richest person in the world: the Angry New Yorker. New York City is debating a new law that would pay civilians who report cars illegally parked in bike lanes, crosswalks, and sidewalks, and anyone that's been to the city knows there are a whole lot of illegally parked cars.
In an effort to curb a pandemic of illegal parking that has been plaguing the Big Apple, lawmakers are taking a look at a new law that has been proposed by council member Lincoln Restler. If passed, civilians would be able to submit photo evidence of cars and trucks illegally parked. The evidence will be reviewed, and if a ticket is handed out, the person who reported it will receive 25% of the ticket amount.
This effort comes as NYC is in dire need of changing the way it handles parking citations which, according to the Mayor's Management Report, are being issued at 50% of the rate of pre-pandemic levels. Furthermore, as e-bike sales continue to soar, more and more focus is being put on personal vehicle infrastructure. In 2022 there were 17 e-bike fatalities, nearly triple the amount in 2021.
Though there is a lot of skepticism that this proposed law will be adopted, anyone who bikes in New York can tell you that any action the city can do to curb illegal parking will be welcome. Many bike lanes are consistently filled with illegally parked cars-the grand street bike lane in Brooklyn, the 1st and 2nd Ave bike lanes in Manhattan just to name a few-forcing cyclists to decide between riding on busy sidewalks or chaotic car lanes.