He’s fuel of it.
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine – an anti-car extremist peddling a pie-in-the-sky bike lane plan for the West Side Highway – has racked up 41 vehicular violations in less than a decade, including speeding, blowing red lights, and even blocking a bike lane, a Post analysis of public data reveals.
And now his newly assigned city driver is apparently following in his “lead-footsteps.”
The progressive Democrat has shelled out $1,895 – including $110 in late fees – since August 2016 to pay off 18 parking tickets and another four citations issued to his privately owned 2012 Honda CR-V, after being caught on camera running red lights and speeding through school safety zones, according to city records.
Among them is a $115 ticket slapped on his windshield in March 2019 for parking along a bicycle lane near Fort Washington Avenue in Washington Heights.
The website HowsMyDriving.nyc – which tracks motor-vehicle data further back than accessible city records reviewed by The Post – shows Levine’s SUV was hit with another 19 parking tickets since August 2013, including violations for blocking a bus stop, misusing a government-issued parking placard and blowing off meters.
Since taking office as borough president in January, Levine has enjoyed the added perk of having access to a Toyota Highlander SUV that comes with its own chauffeur.
Since Feb. 16, the city-issued ride has been ticketed eight times totaling $790 in fines, including three times for being caught on camera speeding in school zones and another for driving through a red light, according to records. The SUV was also nabbed three times for various “bus lane violations” and once for parking in front of a fire hydrant.
“Mark Levine’s war on cars continues — but apparently it doesn’t apply to him,” quipped Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens). “He’s the last person who should be advocating for more bike lanes, having been caught blocking one.”
Holden alleged Levine is guilty of the same “hypocrisy” as Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams – two other “hard-left progressives who pander to the anti-car crowd while driving cars.” Both pols were previously exposed by The Post for poor driving records.
As a former Upper West Side councilman from 2014 through 2021, lefty-Dem Levine devoted plenty of energy catering to longtime political supporters, including powerful street-safety and other special-interest groups like StreetsPAC and the New York League of Conservation Voters that are lobbying for the city to significantly reduce the numbers of cars on its streets.
As borough president, Levine’s put the pedal to medal even harder fighting for the following anti-car causes:
- Hefty “congestion pricing” tolls to enter parts of Manhattan.
- A revised application process to help ensure most appointments he makes as borough president to community boards aren’t car owners.
- A controversial new plan to convert a southbound section of the routinely gridlocked West Side Highway into a four-mile-long bike lane – even though there’s already a bike lane that runs adjacent to it at Hudson River Park plagued by illegal motorbikes.
Levine raised eyebrows last month when he touted his own recommendations for how congestion-pricing should be rolled out while addressing Manhattan Community Board 5 via a teleconference call he made from — of all places — a car.
Levine apologized to board members for the “weird setting,” insisting he was being chauffeured to get to scheduled events on time.
“The irony of having @MarkLevineNYC advocate for congestion pricing in Manhattan from the luxury of his taxpayer, chauffeured car is not lost on us,” tweeted Save the Upper West Side, which referred to the borough president as a “Limousine liberal.”
A Levine spokesman told The Post the borough president “believes traffic and parking enforcement is essential, fair, and part of living in a city, and like any other responsible New Yorker, the tickets on his family vehicle were immediately paid.”
When asked about the tickets amassed by the driver of Levine’s new city vehicle, the spokesman said the borough president’s “Human Resources team was made aware of these infractions and has since worked to ensure that future infractions are minimized and safety on the road is prioritized.”