A bounty for illegal parking? The controversial idea recurs--and it might have big impact near Barclays Center.

What if neighbors enforced Barclays Center-area parking violations, as I wrote in July 2019, reaping revenue from low-hanging fruit, since, on the night of a well-attended concert or special event at the Barclays Center, it's easy to find illegally parked or idling vehicles on the blocks in the radius of the arena.

The post was spurred by a New York Times account of the possibility that residents of Washington, DC could help enforce parking laws--and the possibility that it could lead to vendettas, the failure to recognize extenuating circumstances, and racial profiling.

That said, enforcement around the Barclays Center has always been a matter of political will, with the New York Police Department far more focused in crimefighting, even as the arena business model depends on non-enforcement. It seems to an implicit agreement, and understanding, that rigorous enforcement would be bad for business.

Coming to Brooklyn?

Well, now term-limited 33rd District Council Member Steve Levin has proposed a bill that would deliver a bounty to neighbors who find illegal parking.

This bill would create a new violation and civil penalty for hazardous obstruction by a vehicle of a bicycle lane, bus lane when bus lane restrictions are in effect, sidewalk, crosswalk, or fire hydrant when such vehicle is located within a radial distance of 1,320 feet of a school building, entrance, or exit. The proposed legislation imposes a $175 penalty for each such violation. Such violations would be returnable to the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH). The proposed legislation would require the Department of Transportation (DOT) to create a civilian reporting program where civilians may submit complaints and supporting evidence for alleged violations to DOT. Where DOT brings a proceeding before OATH using evidence or information submitted by a civilian complainant, OATH would award the complainant 25 percent of any proceeds collected as a result of such proceeding.

The cops, it seems, are not impressed.

It’s a rough time in America. This made my day a little brighter. https://t.co/pqE7FTi7CD

— (((Stephen Levin))) (@StephenLevin33) November 20, 2020

Check out the comments on Streetsblog--both engaged by the possibility and worried about what could go wrong.

In the 11/20/20 article, Should Parking Snitches Get Riches?, Curbed noted that a similar bounty works for idling violations, and that the program would be managed by the city's Department of Transportation.

Near a school?  

"The only catch is that motorists must be within a 1,320-foot radius of a school building — but that, it turns out, is most of the city," according to Curbed. 

Actually, there might be some places close to Barclays that would be exempt--at least until the intermediate school opens at Sixth Avenue between Dean and Pacific Streets. 

But there public schools a little more than that distance away from the arena, which means that illegal parking in the nearby neighborhood, a little farther from the arena, would be enforceable.