The sharp decrease in the number of parking tickets issued in New York City has some asking if it's related to the ongoing rift between police and Mayor Bill de Blasio. INSIDE EDITION conducted our own parking test.
INSIDE EDITION parked a car on one of the world's busiest thoroughfares--Manhattan's 6th Avenue, right near Radio City Music Hall.
The signs read: "No Standing Anytime."
If you do, you run the risk of being towed away and a $205 minimum fine. No one in their right mind would park there. But we did, and nothing happened.
An NYPD patrol car pulled right up beside the car, but after a moment, moved on. Another patrol car passed by, and still no ticket.
It's the same all over the nations's largest city. For the second straight week, NYPD officers have apparently stopped issuing tickets.
The numbers say it all. A 93% drop in parking summonses last week, compared to the same week last year. From 16,008 to just 1,191.
In the precinct that covers Times Square, the NYPD didn't write a single parking ticket last week.
INSIDE EDITION went to Midtown Manhattan in the Theater District where signs clearly read: "No Standing Anytime." A car was parked illegally, right in front of an NYPD vehicle, and no ticket issued.
It's not just parking. The number of arrests overall has plummeted by 56%.
The sharp drop is the latest battle in the war between the police rank-and-file and the city's new liberal mayor, Bill de Blasio. It started after he expressed empathy for anti-police protestors.
Cops turned their backs on him at the funerals for those two assassinated officers, and now they're apparently turning their backs on illegally parked cars.
Last night, Bill O'Reilly spoke out in support of the cops, saying, "The uber-liberal Bill de Blasio, almost in record time, has alienated and endangered the largest police department in the nation. It is a stunning display of incompetence."
INSIDE EDITION's car was parked for almost three hours, and still no ticket. After thinking we made our point, it was time to get the car out of there.
The city's police commissioner says despite the apparent slowdown, the overall crime in the city has dropped.
