It turns out Sal Albanese’s car wasn’t stolen after all.
The NYPD said Sunday that it towed the Democratic mayoral candidate’s ride from a Queens neighborhood street fair around the block because he had parked in an area that was off-limits during the event.
But Albanese insisted that he was legally parked and the debacle was nothing short of a “bureaucratic nightmare’’ — as he drove around Sunday hunting for his vehicle.
“That’s my car — crap!’’ Albanese suddenly shouted as he spotted his wife’s silver 2007 Honda Fit two and a half blocks from where he parked it the day before.
“This is unbelievable. This was a massive screw-up. I’m pissed off,’’ he said.
Albanese had been at the Long Island City gathering for about an hour, pumping flesh and talking to local police about crime, before heading off to find his car.
When he couldn’t find it, Albanese called 311 — twice — but city operators said they had no record of it being towed.
Then, thinking the car had been stolen, Albanese tried to file a police report — but cops said he couldn’t because the vehicle belonged to his wife, who was out of town.
“As far as I was concerned, the car was gone into the ether. I thought it was in a chop shop,” Albanese said.
Albanese said he only learned that the car had actually been moved by police when a reporter told him cop sources confessed this to her Sunday.
A police source admitted to The Post that at least some responsibility for the snafu rested with cops.
“When a car is moved, the list is supposed to be sent to precinct … so they can inform people about their car’s whereabouts when they call up to report it stolen,” the source said. “For whatever reason, that didn’t happen this time.”
Albanese claims he left the car in a legal spot “nowhere close to the perimeter of the event.
He said that when he went back to get the car, the street was packed with other vehicles — including one in his spot.
Albanese stopped short of saying any political shenanigans were involved in the incident, instead speculating it was the work of a “renegade tow-truck driver.”
There was nothing indicating the car belonged to Albanese — though there was a blazer with one of his campaign buttons hanging in the window.
“Obviously when you’re running for office, you have enemies, but I don’t think any of them would go to that extent,” he said.
Police did not respond to Albanese’s claim he was parked legally, only saying at least two other cars were towed in connection with the event.
Additional reporting by Michael Gartland