Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Bring back shame stickers for NYC drivers who block street sweepers, councilmember says
By
Liam Quigley
Published May 12, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Courtesy NYC Sanitation Department
By
Liam Quigley
Published May 12, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Lazy New York City drivers who break New York City’s alternate side parking rules would find a gaudy fluorescent shame sticker plastered to their windshield on top of a ticket under an idea proposed by a city lawmaker on Monday.
Councilmember Gale Brewer of the Upper West Side pointed out during a hearing the sanitation department as far back as the 1980s would slap the stickers on cars that failed to move for street sweepers.
“This vehicle violates N.Y.C parking regulations,” the stickers read. “As a result, this street could not be properly cleaned.”
Lawmakers passed legislation banning the practice in 2012 after people complained the glue on the stickers was difficult to remove.
“We should undo the stupid law that took the stickers away and put them back,” Brewer said.
Acting Sanitation Commissioner Javier Lojan said the stickers would be more effective than the department’s $65 fines in getting drivers to comply with alternate side parking.
“I was a field supervisor at one point and those were the most effective things that we can do to deter vehicles not moving for alternate side parking, which were the stickers,” Lojan said during the hearing.
Councilmember Althea Stevens of the Bronx said a lack of compliance with alternate side rules in her district has left streets filthy as cars block street sweepers.
”Literally up the block from my office on Elton [Avenue], cars have not been moved in months and the [sanitation] truck doesn't even go there anymore,” Stevens said.
City sanitation officials have pushed a bill in Albany that would permit the department to install cameras on street sweepers that would automatically ticket cars that break the alternate side rules. Lawmakers have not yet moved the bill to a vote.
Tagged
new york city
Politics
sanitation
Liam Quigley
Liam Quigley is a reporter covering parks & sanitation for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .