July 30, 2012
Around Town By Neal Tepel
District Council 37 and NYC Traffic Employees Local 1455, NYC Traffic Device Maintainers, City Parking Equipment Service Workers and Supervisors, will speak out at City Hall Monday July 30, 2012 at 11AM, against NYC’s costly plan to privatize the city parking system.
Where: City Hall Steps
When: Monday, July 30, 2012
Time: 11am
The City of New York, through the Department of Transportation, has issued a Request for Qualifications to solicit private companies that are qualified to operate the city’s parking system. Despite rising revenue, a stellar labor force that has achieved 99% operability on muni-meters and no real reason to privatize New York City’s parking meters, Mayor Bloomberg is seeking qualifications from private corporations to manage muni-meters and off-street parking meters.
This is not the first time New York City has attempted to privatize. In fact, in the 1980s the city awarded a $22 million contract to a company that was found to have bribed city officials, and later 35 individuals were arrested for stealing almost $1 million in coins over a three-month period.
In Chicago and Indianapolis, mayors have implemented plans to privatize parking meters with disastrous results including increased meter charges, broken meters, loss of parking revenues to city budgets and no control over these long-term, private contracts. We can’t let this happen in New York City.
