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"Above the Law: A Study of Government Parking Permit Abuse in New York City" examines the extent of government permit parking abuse in nine locations throughout New York City: Downtown and Prospect Heights in Brooklyn, Civic Center, Chinatown and Washington Heights in Manhattan, Concourse Village in the Bronx, Astoria and Jamaica in Queens and Saint George in Staten Island.

The study finds that illegal permit usage and the use of fraudulent permits is rife throughout the City:

Citywide, more than 3 out of every 4 permit holders (77%) use their permits illegally.

The NYPD is responsible for 46% of illegal permit abuse, by far the largest share from any single agency.

Of valid permits used illegally at the curbside (i.e. illegally parking at signs with riders forbidding that particular permit's usage), the NYPD is responsible for 63% of the abuse.

Of permit abuse that caused safety hazards, such as blocking fire hydrants, parking on sidewalks, in crosswalks, intersections, and bus stops, the NYPD again leads the way with 61% of overall abuse.

Court Officers are responsible for the majority of fraudulent permits with 54% of the total, followed by Corrections, Court Clerks, and the FDNY.

While the recently announced $400,000 Department of Transportation study of parking and permit abuse in downtown Manhattan is a positive step toward better understanding parking patterns, the Mayor need not wait for another study to begin upholding the law and reducing the numbers of permits in circulation. The study recommends that the city enforce the law, take Inventory of permits and reduce the total number and establish strict issuing guidelines, educate government workers to eliminate the "culture of entitlement", and update parking signage to reflect the communities' needs.

"It's hard to believe that we have to do a study this extensive to draw attention to the issue, but it's really very simple: the NYPD needs to enforce the law when it comes to illegal permit use," says Matthew Roth of Transportation Alternatives. "New York's Finest need to ticket and tow people who park illegally whether they have a permit or not; to do anything less would be to perpetuate a cycle of dangerous double standards."

"Abuse of these permits is terrible for our neighborhood," says Sue Wolfe President, Boerum Hill Association. "Many of the people who abuse the permits could take public transportation, like the rest of us do. The enforcement should be much stronger than it is."

Study is available for download at www.transalt.org