If New York City is going to grant special parking privileges to select insiders, is it really too much to ask that the perk be publicly reported?
Politico this week exposed the fact that City Hall won’t reveal which elected officials get placards with what extra parking rights.
“It’s the greatest perk in the world,” one former assemblyman confessed to the site.
Mayor de Blasio’s office hands out placards to City Hall staffers, City Council members and city marshals — along with at least 47 assembly members and seven state senators. But City Hall won’t say how many placards each pol gets.
And some placards are apparently extra-special. Most are supposed to be used only with a specific vehicle, but Carl Heastie, before becoming speaker, reportedly looked into getting a “universal” placard that he could switch between his personal car and one provided to him as Bronx head of the Democratic Party.
Even ex-pols play the game: Remember how The Post caught former Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny still using his official Assembly license plates nine months after leaving office?
Traffic agents tend to avoid ticketing vehicles with official plates — and parking placards — no matter the violation.
In all, the city hands out more than 160,000 placards — and the state distributes a few more city parking passes, too.
The public has a right to know who benefits from all these “Get Out of Tickets Free” cards.
Keeping the privilege secret only encourages abuse.