At courts, an end to free illegal parking

Spurred by the mayor's office, the Philadelphia Parking Authority is cracking down on illegal parking by police and court personnel around the Criminal Justice Center and Family Court.

For several years, cops and various court officials have been permitted to park their personal cars for free in loading zones, as well as in front of unpaid meters and even fire hydrants.

They warded off parking enforcement officers by putting police incident reports, known in the department as "48s," on their dashboards, often with notations that said they were "in court" or "testifying."

At the Justice Center, 13th and Filbert streets, across from City Hall, the special parking privileges ended abruptly last week, not long after a stroll by Rina Cutler, Mayor Nutter's deputy mayor for transportation, who had run the Parking Authority during the Rendell administration.

"I was wandering around and noticed a lot of cars in violation without parking tickets on them," Cutler said. "Some were in rush-hour zones, some in loading zones, some at expired meters."

Cutler called Vincent J. Fenerty Jr., the Parking Authority's executive director.

"Vince said he'd take care of it," Cutler said. "I assume they went down and did what they're supposed to do. . . . I can't have one set of rules for police officers and another set of rules for the general public."

It was a bit more complicated around Family Court, facing Vine Street between 18th and 19th.

The authority's ticketing manager, Hilda Bielecki, showed up in person Tuesday morning. But instead of ticketing five cars parked on the sidewalk on 19th Street, she slipped polite warning notices under their wiper blades.

"To improve parking and driving in our City, the Philadelphia Parking Authority has revised local parking regulations and will begin enforcing them soon," the yellow warnings said. "Please cooperate to avoid a parking ticket."

A bit later in the day, the Family Court's administrative judge, Kevin Dougherty, sent an e-mail to court staff banning sidewalk parking, effective immediately.

In fact, the Parking Authority has never had any "local parking regulations" that permitted illegal parking around the courthouses.

When a Daily News reporter approached Bielecki to ask why she wasn't ticketing the cars on the sidewalk, she said she wasn't allowed to talk to the press.

The Parking Authority's longtime spokeswoman, Linda Miller, provided little additional information.

"Apparently, with the police, some courtesy was extended to them while they were in court," Miller said. "When we became aware of the practice we made sure it was stopped."

Asked to specify who had decided to permit free parking in the first place, or why the authority was handing out warning notices instead of tickets, Miller said she'd been unable to find out. *