The Biggest Scofflaw

Motorists who fail to pay New York City parking fines have recently been subjected to an intense new collection campaign: dunning notices in the mail, mysterious and sometimes threatening phone calls from collection agencies, even warnings on the radio that "scofflaws" can face garnishment of wages and liens on their property. Last week, however, it was disclosed that the city's biggest scofflaw--incurring fines and penalties estimated at $6 million per year--is the U.S. Federal Government.

Even more astonishing was the revelation that more than half of the summonses--about 6,000 per month--are handed out to some 10,000 undercover vehicles belonging to the FBI, the CIA, Customs and other agencies. The cars are often registered to fictitious names and addresses, and police sometimes do not learn that a particular auto is federally owned until they tow it away. In one such instance, federal marshals showed up to claim some illegally parked cars and charged police in turn with illegal seizure of federal property. The cars were promptly returned.

New York has always been unsuccessful in collecting any fines from foreign diplomatic missions and consulates, which each month accumulate some 25,000 summonses, and it will probably get little farther with the feds. Some parking-violations-bureau officials, indeed, say they fear that if they press too hard for the fines, the Government might retaliate by cutting its federal grants to the city's traffic department. So far, only one agency seems to have made any gesture to pay up. Last month, perhaps in memory of the clean-cut, square-jawed rectitude of Founder J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI anted up $7,000.

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