CJS Decision 2024

A car with a city-issued parking placard parks in a restricted area on Centre Street in Chinatown. Jake Angelo.

Manhattan’s Chinatown is best known for its unique culture, bustling markets and authentic Chinese cuisine. It is known less so for its plethora of government agencies, such as the New York City Criminal Court and District Attorney’s office, and with them, their fleet of employees whose cars clog the narrow streets of the neighborhood.

Parking spaces are in high demand in the downtown neighborhood. However, the New York City Department of Transportation grants special parking privileges for some officials and NYPD officers who work in government offices, leading these employees to park throughout Chinatown. 

As the debate surrounding congestion pricing drags on following Governor Kathy Hochul’s indefinite pause on the legislation, Chinatown residents are looking elsewhere to reduce congestion: parking placards.

Chinatown community leaders have been vocal about the unfairness of parking placards. 

“None of [this] had any type of community feedback,” said Joe Chan, a Chinatown community leader and activist. “Don’t we have a say in this? Why are you doing this and to benefit who?” Chan asked.

The Department of Investigation (DOI) released a report in April that found significant flaws in the City’s issuance and enforcement of parking permits. Among the issues highlighted in the report are a disorganized, piecemeal process for creating and issuing parking permits, as well as lax enforcement of parking permit regulations. The DOI investigation found at least 136 City employees eligible for permit revocation.

 “A lack of enforcement of parking laws with respect to permit-holders sends a message of special treatment,” wrote DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Stauber.

The NYC Department of Transportation did not respond to a request for comment.

Chinatown residents and business owners are well aware of this special treatment. The parking placards have presented an obstacle for workers who drive to the neighborhood, reducing parking options and forcing some to resort to expensive parking lots.

“There’s a very big workforce here in Chinatown,” said Chelsea Liang, an employee at a game store across the street from Columbus Park. “A lot of people have to pay a lot of money out of their pocket for parking lots.”

Residents and business owners like Kat Shaw, a cashier at a Thai restaurant across the street from the construction site of a multi-story jail, oppose congestion pricing, viewing it as unfair. “It's just a money scheme,” Shaw said. 

However, she still sees a need to reduce gridlock in the neighborhood. “There could be a day where the line [of cars] would be down Canal Street,” Shaw said.

Many Chinatown residents see congestion pricing as hypocritical, given that cars with city-issued permits create much of the traffic in the neighborhood. 

“Why is the government not taking the lead in their obligation to reduce congestion?,” asked Jan Lee, co-founder of Neighbors United Below Canal, an advocacy group unifying Chinatown residents. 

Lee is an outspoken critic of the parking placard scheme, especially as it pertains to Asian Americans living and working in the neighborhood. 

“The Asian American community is not running to be in the subway right now,” said Lee, referring to the community’s fear of the subway system, following a rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans in New York. Many Asian American workers in the neighborhood see no choice but to drive to work for their own safety, placing them in contention with city-permitted drivers.

The fate of congestion pricing remains uncertain. Whether or not the pricing plan is implemented, government-permitted cars and the gridlock they create will remain. 

In the meantime, Chinatown residents like Kat Shaw are not hopeful about the efforts to reduce traffic in the neighborhood. “It’s like a pipe dream,” she said.