Parking violations in Glen Cove will soon come with a steeper price tag after the City Council unanimously approved an increase in fines for 18 parking offenses, a move that brings the city’s penalties in line with neighboring municipalities.
The new fines, approved unanimously by the City Council at the June 23 meeting, raised most violations from $50 to $125. Double-parking will now carry a $120 fine, while parking in a fire lane will cost $135. Officials said the increases mark the first significant adjustment to many of the city’s parking fines in more than two decades.
“These fines have been the same since 2002,” Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck said during the meeting before outlining the violations affected by the ordinance. The changes apply to offenses ranging from parking in a crosswalk to blocking a driveway; parking within 20 feet of an intersection, within 30 feet of a traffic-control device or farther than 12 inches from a curb; obstructing traffic; leaving a vehicle with the key in the ignition; and parking on a sidewalk, in a fire lane, on a lawn or in a tow-away zone; as well as stopping or standing violations and overtime, bus stop, off-street and special-purpose parking.
Residents and visitors responding to a Herald survey on Facebook had mixed reactions. Joe Marino supported the increase. “It’s about time the city got tough on violators,” Marino wrote. “Triple the fines if you have to.”
Maria Porcaro described how her driving habits had changed. “Isn’t the point of a fine to deter people from breaking the law?” Maria Porcaro wrote. “I got caught on a red-light camera and paid a hefty penalty. You can bet I never did that again.”
Others questioned whether the higher penalties were necessary. Jay Eric said the city should adopt escalating penalties rather than immediately raising fines.
“Onerous especially for lower income people,” he wrote. “Start at $50 — people make mistakes. Then double it, then double it again. After three, license suspension.” He added that significantly higher parking fines are “unnecessarily expensive for people living paycheck to paycheck.”
Lyle Surkin criticized the timing of the increase. “It’s selfish for the city to raise fines now, when everyone is struggling one way or another,” Surkin wrote. “Those who aren’t affected don’t care, so an increase in fines won’t influence their behavior.”
City officials said the revisions are intended to bring Glen Cove’s parking fines into line with neighboring municipalities rather than significantly change the city’s enforcement practices. According to Nassau County’s parking fine schedule, comparable parking violations in the towns of North Hempstead, Hempstead and Oyster Bay generally carry $125 fines.
“That brings us in line with what everybody else is doing nowadays,” Detective Lt. John Nagle, of the Glen Cove Police Department, said.
Nagle noted that officers issued 5,274 parking tickets last year. “Tickets are being issued for things that people shouldn’t be doing in the first place,” he said. “If you’re doing something that’s not legal, then you have the repercussions.”
The city collected approximately $225,000 in parking fine revenue last year, according to City Comptroller Michael Piccirillo.
“There may be a change in behavior since the new fines are much higher which would offset incremental revenues,” Piccirillo wrote in an email to the Herald.
The revisions, he added, were intended to do more than generate additional revenue.
“I think it is important to note the revisions to these parking fine amounts is more to align the City with its neighboring municipalities, like we have been doing over the past several years with other fees and penalties charged by the City,” Piccirillo wrote. “For too long, we have neglected to be at the same rates as others. Our parking fines are now at the same level as Nassau County, Oyster Bay, Hempstead and North Hempstead.”
The action comes as the city continues to address a $3.1 million budget gap created after it did not receive anticipated direct sales tax revenue this year. Nassau County did not approve a waiver in time for Glen Cove to begin collecting its sales tax directly, delaying the change until 2027. The financial shortfall contributed to a downgrade of the city’s bond rating by Moody’s earlier this year.
