Lawmakers, activists denounce ‘sweetheart deal’ for major delivery firms
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Queens Councilmember Costa Constantinides rallied against the Stipulated Parking Fine Program on Monday. City Council photo via Flickr.
By Jonathan Sperling
Lawmakers and environmental activists rallied on Cyber Monday against a preferential fine program that has turned into a “a sweetheart deal” for delivery behemoths like FedEx and UPS.
On paper, the Stipulated Parking Fine Program allows delivery businesses to waive their right to challenge parking tickets in exchange for a pre-set, reduced fine amount for each offense. In some cases, depending on the violation, the ticket may even be dismissed. Certain infractions — red light and bus lane camera violations are not eligible for reductions. The program offers the same deal for businesses that make pick-ups or service calls.
But in practice, the reduced fines give companies, such as FedEx, UPS, and Verizon a “free pass” to block bike lanes, fire hydrants, and crosswalks, while also increasing overall delivery traffic, say Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Western Queens Councilmember Costa Constantinides. A report by Streetsblog found that fines of $115 are often reduced to $0 thanks to the program.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams also rallied against the Stipulated Parking Fine Program. City Council photo via Flickr.
“Millions of packages bought on Cyber Monday will hit the streets over the next few weeks to create a safety nightmare,” Constantinides said. “We have seen more than 50,000 bike lane violations over a two-year period with little to no penalty for these companies. Frankly, it’s sickening that we give delivery corporations a free pass to put people at risk.”
In 2018, Constantinides was one of five councilmembers to introduce a legislative package that would abolish the Stipulated Fine Program, making it so that fines may only be reduced or dismissed on their merits following a hearing held by an administrative judge.
“Ending the Stipulated Fine Program will keep our cyclists and pedestrians safer, reduce the unprecedented traffic levels, and take useless, harmful truck exhaust out of our air,” Constantinides added.
Williams noted that the Stipulated Fine Program is intended to prevent a backlog of cases in the city’s court system, but argued that it loses the city millions in fine revenue. In 2012, an investigation by the New York City Comptroller’s Office found that many companies partaking in the program failed to pay their fines — there were 924 companies with outstanding fine amounts totaling $7,729,458 registered in the Stipulated Fine Program, as of April 2012.
“The reality is, emissions from delivery vehicles are polluting our air, our roads are less safe because of double parking and illegal parking in bike lanes, and we're losing out in millions of dollars in fine revenue we could use to improve our city,” Williams said.
