The city plans to cut the number of parking permits it issues by 20% - and create a special police unit to enforce its often-abused parking rules.

"We will give out placards only to those who need to use them to further the public interest," Mayor Bloomberg said Thursday. "We have no tolerance for their abuse, which contributes to congestion."

The city doesn't even know how many permits are issued by its many agencies.

One official estimated 70,000 placards, while the watchdog group Transportation Alternatives believes it's closer to 150,000.

"This is a pretty substantial institutional change," said Wiley Norvell, the group's spokesman. "It all comes down to enforcement."

The Daily News has spotlighted parking permit abuses in downtown Brooklyn, by the Bronx courthouse and in Chinatown.

An entire Web site called Uncivil Servants is devoted to pictures of cars parked illegally with government placards.

"There's been a directive to reduce all permits and placards by 20%, so we're doing it," NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.

"Anything that isn't issued by us or [the Department of Transportation] will not be treated as a placard."