NYC Transit Chief Warns Workers Not To Park Illegally

NEW YORK — The people who keep New York City's subways and buses moving ought to practice what they preach, their boss said in a letter Thursday. NYC Transit President Andy Byford issued a warning against illegal parking in a communique to agency employees as the city cracks down on parking placard abuse.

While he expects take public transit whenever possible, Byford wrote in bold type that Transit workers better not park on a sidewalk, in bus lane or in an illegal space if they do drive, and they shouldn't take up a metered spot without paying. Anyone who blocks a bus lane impedes the agency's goal of keeping the city moving, he said.

"More specifically, when Transit employees park their cars in a bus lane, that's what my fellow football ('soccer') fans call an 'own goal' — when we get in the way of our own success," Byford wrote.

The letter is dated March 26 but was distributed Thursday, the MTA said. Transit reporter Aaron W. Gordon first posted a copy of it to Twitter that afternoon. The MTA confirmed the letter's authenticity but did not provide Patch with a copy.

Byford's missive came after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced additional efforts in February to crack down on illegal parking by public employees with special parking permits. The city plans to eventually get rid of physical placards, but will also stiffen penalties for workers who abuse their privileges and target scofflaws in areas plagued by bad parking.

While he noted that NYC Transit is not the target of that crackdown, Byford told workers that putting a vest on their dashboards — a placard abuse tactic documented as recently as Thursday — won't make them exempt from the rules.

"Instead, it will tell your fellow New Yorkers that Transit employees think we are above the law," Byford wrote.

Byford also encouraged his underlings to use the subways and buses that they're responsible for running. Byford himself takes the Lexington Avenue line every day and uses other transit services in his travels around the city, he said.

"Of course, I know many of you work shifts, and some of our facilities are hard to get to by subway or bus," Byford wrote. "As we undertake our borough-wide bus network redesigns, that may change: Your input and the needs of customers will determine that."

The letter was a pre-emptive note rather than a slap on the wrist for any particular bad behavior, according to the MTA.

"President Byford is proud of the transit system, proud of transit employees, and proud of the role they play in moving New York and reducing pollution," MTA spokesman Shams Tarek said in a statement.