The NYPD launched a crackdown on city employees who park illegally in Chinatown, issuing summonses and towing away cars - much to the relief of long-suffering business owners.The neighborhood was blanketed with more than 100 warning notices during the past few weeks, and, more recently, police towed about 10 vehicles and issued a handful of summonses.The Daily News published an exclusive report last month about a Transportation Alternatives study that found 115 cars illegally parked on sidewalks or pedestrian areas - many of them also blocking fire hydrants - during a single hour on March 29 in Chinatown and around City Hall.More than 90% of these illegally parked cars appeared to have city-issued placards that permit free parking only in legal spots when a government employee is conducting "official business."On the day The News published the story, Mayor Bloomberg pledged to take action."We applaud Mayor Bloomberg for making good on his pledge to crack down on the flagrant abuse of municipal parking privileges, particularly the rampant illegal parking on sidewalks," said Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, a watchdog group.The group plans to publish a followup report this summer, focusing on other neighborhoods where there are similar abuses, specifically downtown Brooklyn and the South Bronx.Oscar Ruiz, a 55-year-old community activist in the Bronx, said there is flagrant abuse of city placards in the area surrounding the Bronx Zoo, along Pelham Parkway and White Plains Road."This is a citywide problem," said Ruiz, who has photographed illegally parked cars in his neighborhood. "It's an outright abuse of power. "It's a public safety issue. "In Chinatown, though, merchants and advocates said they were pleased to see the tow trucks this week. A few of the cars towed yesterday appeared to have official-looking placards that were not NYPD-authorized cards.Jan Lee, a store owner on Mott St., credited Deputy Inspector Michael Lau, the commanding officer in the 5th Precinct since January, for listening to the community's complaints."This wasn't just NYPD rhetoric," Lee said. "This is a man who said he would do something and he's actually doing it."