NYPD Says Cops Can Block Fire Hydrants With Personal Vehicles, Because They’re Cops

Mayor de Blasio said recently that he’s not happy with the way his placard “crackdown” is going.

“I don’t think the city agencies have done a good enough job,” de Blasio told WNYC’s Brian Lehrer, “and I have again directed the deputy mayor for operations to come up with a much more aggressive plan because there cannot be any sense that placard abuse is acceptable.”

If de Blasio is finally getting serious about placard abuse, he has to start with NYPD. Under de Blasio, cops are so accustomed to living above the law that they don’t even try to hide it.

When Danny Imperiali notified 311 of a placard abuser blocking a fire hydrant near the 114th Precinct in Astoria, NYPD, via 311, responded that the offense was actually “authorized parking in vicinity of precinct.”

these responses from @nyc311 re: #placardabuse near the @NYPD114Pct keeping changing. today it turns out that blocking bus stops and fire hydrants is ok as long as youre in the “vicinity” a police station @placardabuse 1/2

cc @Costa4NY @Cb1Queens pic.twitter.com/h97HrHcSr3

— Danny Imperiali (@dimpNewYork) August 2, 2018

There’s no such thing as authorized illegal parking. That’s not how laws work.

Parking rules exist because illegally parked vehicles pose a risk to the public. It doesn’t matter who the vehicle belongs to.

The 114th Precinct is where two weeks ago cops blamed cyclist Xellea Samonte for her own death, ignoring evidence to the contrary. Which is another indication that officers only identify with people who get around inside a motor vehicle.

In the world outside the NYPD bubble, laws apply to everyone. Until de Blasio is willing to pop that bubble, all his crackdown rhetoric will continue to be just that.