New York – DC 37 Fighting Parking Meter Privatization
New York City Traffic Employees Local 1455 Pres. Michael DeMarco speaks at a City Hall press conference in July to oppose the city’s plan to privatize parking services.
Members of DC 37 are challenging the city’s plan to privatize its public parking system, calling it senseless and costly.
At a news conference this July attended by members of the City Council, DC 37 Exec. Dir. Lillian Roberts, also an International vice president, implored Mayor Michael Bloomberg to learn from the experiences of mayors in Chicago and Indianapolis, where privatization of parking meters caused increased meter charges, broken meters,and loss of revenues.
“We are speaking out against privatization that hasn’t worked, doesn’t work and won’t work for our city,” Roberts said. “The city wants to continue to misspend billions of dollars, this time on an unnecessary private parking contract when city parking system workers are already doing an excellent job, generating approximately $1.2 million per worker in revenue for the city. We’re here to say to Mayor Bloomberg, ‘Don’t break something that’s working.’”
“We believe this move would cost our city money and we don’t understand why the city is moving forward with this,” said Michael DeMarco, president of NYC Traffic Employees Local 1455, which represents more than 450 members including traffic device maintainers, city parking equipment service workers and supervisors.
“Privatizing parking services in New York has a long, checkered past,” added DeMarco, referring to a 1980s scandal when the city awarded a $22-million contract to a company found to have bribed city officials. Later, 35 people were arrested for stealing nearly $1 million in coins.
Local 1455 members reclaimed parking meter collection services, DeMarco said. “We are here today to tell the mayor to put his scheme to rest.”
