With the number of parking tickets in New York City doubling in the past decade, Assemblyman William Colton (D—Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Dyker Heights) has introduced legislation that would require cities in New York State with populations of a million or more to offer adjudication opportunities at least one evening per week.

The bill, A02515, would require that New York City, the only city in the state whose population exceeds one million, have parking ticket hearing examiners on duty until at least 7 p.m. a minimum of once a week.

“It’s unfair that city residents who receive parking tickets also have to take time off work to fight them, if they believe they were unfairly issued,” said Assemblyman Colton. “Small Claims Court has evening hours to accommodate working New Yorkers. It’s only reasonable that the Department of Finance, which handles disputed parking violations, also offer some evening hours for those who cannot fight their tickets online, through the Pay or Dispute mobile app or through the mail. Given the financial pressures of the current economy, we should not be making New Yorkers who think they were unfairly ticketed, to have to choose between paying the fine and possibly losing income from having to take time off work.”

According to research published by St. Augustine’s University, the use of camera enforcement --particularly in Manhattan, portions of downtown Brooklyn, and near large entertainment venues such as Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center – is a prime cause of the increase.

The report notes that, “According to NYCDOT data, enforcement has doubled since 2015, with over 650,000 parking citations issued in 2023 alone – a measurable shift tied to expanded surveillance and digital billing,” allowing the city to amass in excess of $600 million in 2023 “in permit, street, and parking citations,” with parking tickets representing “approximately 12% of total revenue from traffic enforcement, with major hotspots exceeding $10 million annually.”