Ban on stickers for street-parking enforcement

Summary#

Assembly Bill A-11704 would add a prohibition to New York’s General Municipal Law and repeal and replace section 19-163.2 of the New York City Administrative Code. Its stated goal is to prohibit adhesive stickers from being used solely to enforce street-parking rules. The bill is introduced and has not become law; if enacted, it would take effect immediately.

  • A municipality’s parking-enforcement department could not affix an adhesive sticker to a vehicle solely in connection with enforcing street-parking rules.
  • The replacement New York City provision would prohibit any department from doing the same.
  • The bill does not ban all stickers on vehicles: its wording applies when the sticker is used solely for street-parking enforcement.

What it means for you#

  • Municipalities: If enacted, the bill would require covered departments to stop affixing stickers to vehicles solely for street-parking enforcement. It does not specify another way to give notice.
  • Drivers: The bill would not itself change street-parking rules, tickets, fines, or other enforcement methods.
  • Current law: The supplied materials do not include the existing text of the New York City provision, so its current requirements and how this bill would change them could not be verified.

Money#

No publicly available information on the bill’s costs.

  • The bill does not state a spending amount, create a fund, or set a fee or fine.

What is unclear#

  • “Adhesive sticker” and “solely in connection with enforcement” are not defined.
  • The bill does not set out a replacement notice method, enforcement process, penalty, or appeal process.
  • It does not explain how the new statewide rule would interact with the replaced New York City provision.
  • The bill is at the introduced stage; whether it will pass is uncertain.

Case for#

  • The bill would prevent parking-enforcement departments from attaching stickers to vehicles solely to enforce street-parking rules.
  • It leaves parking rules and other enforcement methods unchanged, so its scope is limited to the use of those stickers.

Case against#

  • Municipalities would lose stickers as an enforcement method, but the bill does not say what method, if any, should replace them.
  • The undefined phrase “solely in connection with” could leave uncertainty about when a sticker is prohibited.
  • The bill does not set out penalties or explain how the prohibition would be enforced.