Stepping Stones day care parents rip $115 parking ticket

BY MATTHEW LYSIAK
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS

Wednesday, October 31st 2007, 4:00 AM


It's almost like stealing candy from babies.

Furious Bay Ridge parents say they are being slapped with $115 double-parking violations by NYPD traffic enforcement agents while picking their kids up from day care - even when they're only briefly out of their cars.

"I turned around, and three minutes later they scanned my car," said Dede Leone, of Bay Ridge, the mother of C.J. Leone, 4, who attends Stepping Stones day care center.

"I went crazy on the [agent], but I can't tell you what I said because my kids are here."

Parents' complaints have escalated to the point where the 86th St. center's owner changed dismissal times and handed out homemade windshield placards pleading for leniency.

"This kind of harassment is just insane," said Dawn Ortiz. "It is just inexcusable that they are targeting parents who are dropping off their toddlers."

The agents have been increasingly issuing parents tickets since September 2006, she said.

"They run out real fast when parents are standing at cars and hit the area with four or five tickets in one shot," Ortiz said. "I don't know exactly how many have been issued, but it is a lot."

Parent Jessica Corbin, who has been ticketed twice, called it a perfect parking storm.

"They say to find a space, but it is impossible with four schools located within these two blocks," Corbin said.

Victor Gomez, another parent at Stepping Stones, said that with parking impossible to find, it could take up to an hour to walk to the school and drop his kids off and then walk back to his car.

"Today everyone has a car, and if you don't double-park, the reality is that my kid is going to be late for school and I'm going to be late for work," Gomez said.

Community Board 10 Chairman Dean Rasinya confirmed that police are targeting double-parking parents at schools - as a matter of public safety.

"Double-parking is dangerous and unacceptable," said Rasinya, a former cop. "Youngsters walking to school are being put at risk by doubleparkers."

Commanding Officer Eric Rodriquez of the 68th Precinct also defended the traffic agents' decision to slap the unsuspecting parents with tickets.

"How can we say it is all right for you to double-park, but it's a penalty for everyone else?" Rodriguez said at an Oct. 15 Community Board 10 meeting.

"I have children, too, and I am not asking for special exemptions."