Who got ghost tickets
Included in the state comptroller's report about the Albany ghost tickets are lists of people and organizations who received the no-fine parking tickets.
We've pulled the lists from the report and dropped them into sortable tables...
All names and numbers pulled from the report by the state comptroller's office. Some people had multiple vehicles registered in their name receive ghost tickets.
Also: The comptroller's report doesn't note why these people received ghost tickets. The no-fine tickets could have been given for legitimate reasons (or, as legitimate as a program that no one seems to know is going on can be). For example, cops appearing in court. In fact, just spot checking some of the people with the highest totals, some of them appear to be cops or assistant district attorneys.
Vehicles that received 50 or more no-fine tickets
People with VIP list vehicles that received tickets
People who had four or more tickets canceled
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Comments
Dear Patrick J. Connors,
Where the f- were you parking that you racked up 468 tickets? Did you ever park in a valid spot? Do you need someone to tutor you on what constitutes a valid parking spot? I'd be happy to help.
Sincerely,
A concerned driver
BTW, I know the one of the people on the canceled ticket list...5 tickets is a very small percentage of the tickets they get. I think it's like a pay 5 get 1 free kind of deal...
... said Cassie on Aug 7, 2009 at 12:57 PM | link
Any way to find out who these people are? Might be interesting ...
... said hrgreen on Aug 7, 2009 at 1:17 PM | link
@hrgreen: We've been spot-checking the list. So far, there have been a handful of cops. There was an ADA. So some of these people may have been on some sort of official business (e.g., appearing in court).
... said Greg on Aug 7, 2009 at 1:23 PM | link
Might as well park with one tire on the courthouse steps if you have a bullseye sticker! What the hell?
... said Slackeyed on Aug 7, 2009 at 3:58 PM | link
In the end, none of this matters at all. There is zero accountability in the NYS government, why should the police department act differently?
They all learned a long time ago that they can do as they damn well please and aside from a (yaaaawwwwwnn) great deal of public "outcry", NOTHING ever results from it. People screaming and yelling ultimately affects nothing. Nobody gets fined, nobody gets fired, nobody gets demoted, nobody gets anything. Sticks and stones. NY cops and politicians go about their business on the backs of the taxpayers.
... said Jon (was) in Michigan on Aug 7, 2009 at 4:16 PM | link
I'm impressed Brian Wilson got out of bed often enough to accumulate 192 tickets.
Brian, if you're reading this - I'm really really super proud of you. And I loved "Pet Sounds."
... said Kevin Marshall on Aug 7, 2009 at 4:33 PM | link
ELRAC Inc. is Enterprise Rent A Car. Wonder why they are getting tickets canceled? I've had to pay any parking tickets I receive when I rent a car... Odd.
... said SP on Aug 7, 2009 at 5:12 PM | link
Even though many of the people listed are police officers, that doesn't necessarily mean that they were on official business at the time they were given a no-fine ticket.
True story - my ex (whose name is on that list, with over 200 ghost tickets) took me out to dinner one night. He parked in an area clearly marked as No Parking but when I pointed this out, he just put his laminated Law Enforcement tag in the windshield and gave his typical response "don't worry, we're among friends".
After dinner, it was clear that the Parking Authority had come by when I saw the ticket on his window. I immediately began laughing and gave him a good I-told-you-so.
Until he showed me the ticket.
It said "law enforcement vehicle" and under the fine, it said $0
... said BLT on Aug 7, 2009 at 8:24 PM | link
So, let me ask a question: if the director of the parking violations bureau is getting no fine parking tickets, does that mean that the director of the water bureau is not paying for water? or the assessor of taxes is not paying real estate taxes?
... said hrgreen on Aug 9, 2009 at 4:38 PM | link