Congestion Problem Solved

With a steady stream of income, to boot — maybe the money raised from parking tickets can go to mass transit improvements:

A crackdown by the NYPD on illegally parked cars with city, state and federal placards on their dashboards resulted in 178 tickets — along with the arrest of a retired sergeant for having a fake on his dashboard, The Post has learned.

Teams of Internal Affairs Bureau cops swept through lower Manhattan and around government and courthouse hubs in the outer boroughs last week, targeting illegally parked government cars blocking crosswalks, bus stops and loading zones.

Twenty of the ticketed cars were towed to pounds, where one owner — the ex-cop — was charged with possession of a “forged instrument,” a misdemeanor, when he showed up to reclaim his vehicle.

His placard was a bogus Department of Homeland Security duplicate and he was given a desk-appearance ticket, officials said, declining to reveal his identity.

“Regardless of what they were using the placard for, the vehicles were illegally parking, even with the placards in their windows,” said Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne, the NYPD spokesman.

“The placard does not allow for double-parking, parking in front of hydrants, blocking bus stops, and the like. It still does not give you carte blanche.”

The four-day crackdown — from Tuesday, April 1, through Friday — was prompted by constant complaints from motorists and pedestrians that cars abusing their placard privileges were double-parking or using spots where they were not permitted and clogging streets.

Forty-eight of the ticketed cars belonged to the NYPD, with cops abusing either their personal placards or precinct permits. Six cop cars were towed.

The FDNY was also hit in the blitz. Three of its cars with “official” placards were ticketed. Another four FDNY cars, bearing “union” placards, were ticketed, and one of those was towed.