Scores of selfish city employees continue to park illegally in Chinatown and the City Hall area - creating a safety hazard and hurting local businesses, according to a report to be released today.Between 9 and 10 a.m. on March 29, 115 cars illegally hogged space on sidewalks or pedestrian areas - many of them also blocking fire hydrants - in the area bounded by Canal St., the Brooklyn Bridge, Centre St. and the Bowery.More than 90% of the illegally parked cars had city-issued placards that permit free parking in legal spots when a government employee is conducting "official business."The Transportation Alternatives study, obtained by the Daily News, will be released during a news conference today at which City Council members, community advocates, merchants and residents will demand that Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly investigate abuse of the parking permits.Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, a watchdog group, said "basically nothing has changed" since The News conducted a six-week investigation in 1999 showing widespread abuse of tens of thousands of the city-issued parking placards.He charged that many of the culprits are cops."Chinatown is being choked to death because the sidewalks and streets are so saturated with illegal parkers," White said. "The community is at the end of their rope because the very people with the power to remedy the situation are the worst offenders."Two volunteers for Transportation Alternatives were detained by the NYPD for taking photos of the cops' private cars, he said.The report contains a plethora of pictures documenting the abuse, including one that purportedly shows 5th Precinct officers illegally parked on a sidewalk - blocking a fire hydrant - while picking up lunch.Paul Browne, the NYPD's top spokesman, said the department is taking action to address the problem, "maybe not to the level of satisfaction of the people complaining about it.""If it continues to be a problem," he said, "it may take more efforts to address."Stu Loeser, a spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg, said, "The mayor has made it clear that all personnel whose jobs require placards should use them appropriately."In the meantime, though, the illegal parking is taking its toll.The Rev. Raymond Nobiletti of the Church of Transfiguration on Mott St. said there are cars with city-issued placards illegally parked in front of his church every day from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m."It's a problem when we have funerals," Nobiletti told The News. "There's nothing like carrying a coffin over a double-parked car."Jan Lee, who has owned a home furnishings and antique store on Mott St. for the past 14 years, said the parking abuse has contributed to the closing of 32 businesses on his street in an area that was economically hard-hit by 9/11."Our own safety and our economic health is in jeopardy," Lee, 40, said. "On any given day, every single fire hydrant is parked by a car with a placard. That's creating a situation that is far more dangerous than any terrorist could imagine.""What we're really asking for," Lee said, "is safe streets."