If city officials insist on towing cars to raise money, they should at least make them available to owners before the day is over, a lawmaker said yesterday.
Calling the city’s tow operation “a revenue-generating racket,” Queens Councilman David Weprin said he would introduce legislation to keep car pounds open later so people could get their cars back more quickly.
In many cases, Weprin said, owners are not able to get their cars back until the next day, subjecting them to an additional $20-per-day storage fee on top of the $280 tow and ticket fee.
Weprin’s bill would keep impound lots in The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island open until midnight. Manhattan has a 24-hour lot.
In 2008, 136,632 vehicles were towed and impounded, according to city records. This year, the city is on pace to tow 138,838.