Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Teachers Union Wants Its Free Parking!
By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 7, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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 .
By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 7, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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
Mayor Bloomberg's announcement that he would reduce the number of parking permits for civil servants by 20% has annoyed yet another group. Joining police officers, fire fighters, and other emergency workers are teachers.
Teachers union president Randi Weingarten sent Mayor Bloomberg a letter to call the permit limits"deeply disturbing." Weingarten complains that teachers actually have too few permits. United Federation of Teachers vice-president Michael Mulgrew told the Sun that teachers end up making "informal deals" to rent driveway space from residents and even gave the personal anecdote of one school of 130 teachers offering just three spaces.
However, Streetsblog takes exception to Weingarten's letter, finding problems with her claims. Here's one:
- [From Weingarten's letter:] "Teachers do not clog areas such as lower Manhattan" with their personal vehicles.
[From Streetsblog:] Not only are teachers' cars part of the Lower Manhattan traffic jam, in a city where 43 percent of elementary school kids are unhealthily obese, teachers and education officials have been known to clog school playgrounds with their personal vehicles. In one notorious case, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum intervened to stop city employees from using the Tompkins Square Middle School's playground as a parking lot in 2004.
Streetsblog (which also points to a study suggesting free parking makes people more willing to drive, even when there are mass transit options nearby) says that it's not about eliminating teachers' permits, it's about creating "more centralized and rational system for distributing parking permits based on real need" - with enforcement.
Photograph of car using a Department of Education permit to illegally park from Uncivil Servants
Tagged
betsy gotbaum
bloomberg
education
free parking
lower manhattan
manhattan
mass transit
mayor
mayor bloomberg
Middle School
parking
parking permits
public advocate
Randi Weingarten
teachers
tompkins square
uft
Uncivil Servants
United Federation
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Early Addition: There's a new hot duck, this time in Queens
Because a mandarin duck has been frolicking in Flushing, here are your early links: RHONY star racked up a lot of parking tickets, 57 best Italian restaurants in New Jersey, Judi Dench said the "Cats" movie was bad and more.
By
James Ramsay
Published Oct 20, 2026 at 9:40 a.m. ET
NYPD hate crime unit investigates smashed windows, ‘Pal Action’ graffiti at UES Capital One
The bank previously faced protests over a $90 million loan to an Israeli drone company.
By
Ryan Kost
News
NYPD hate crime unit investigates smashed windows, ‘Pal Action’ graffiti at UES Capital One
The bank previously faced protests over a $90 million loan to an Israeli drone company.
By
Ryan Kost
A reliably Republican part of NJ, until ICE came to town
By
Mike Hayes
NYC school integration debate exposes tensions between Black parents and Mamdani
By
Elizabeth Kim
Queens man charged with hate crime at Jewish-owned bagel shop displaying Israeli flags
By
Giulia Heyward
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 .