New York police stop a funeral in order to issue parking tickets to mourners

TheNewspaper
Jun. 05, 2006

A New York City police officer blocked a funeral procession last Thursday to issue $575 in parking tickets to the bereaved. As the ceremony was drew to a close, the officer parked his patrol car in such a way that the mourners at the Wah Wing Sang funeral home had no way to leave.

The funeral home director talked the policeman into letting the procession leave before the officer was able to issue tickets to the remaining vehicles, which would have generated an additional $1265 in revenue. The New York City Office of Collective Bargaining ruled in January that police in at least one precinct had a ticket quota that required the issuance of at least four parking tickets in a given time period.

The Chinatown area suffers significant congestion as areas including the Fifth Precinct police headquarters and the courthouse have personal vehicles belonging to employees parked illegally. Two other funeral homes are located on Mulberry Street along with Wah Wing Sang.

Source: Chinatown funeral procession delayed by traffic tickets (Downtown Express (NY), 6/2/2006)