A delayed permit from the city is a creating a real inconvenience for one Manhattan resident. Our Susan Jhun has the story.
Most days, Barnett Weiss drives his wife to work in Midtown and parks in handicap-accessible parking.
"My wife has serious disabilities," Weiss said. "And the pain is so much that she just can’t really get around much at all. So we got the placards."
A necessity the Weiss' were without once the parking permit expired several days ago. Weiss says he sent in for the renewal in early March and received confirmation of the application. However, a month later on the day the placard expired, he still hadn't received the permit.
Surprising, since Weiss says he's applied for disability parking permits and renewed them every year without issue since 2011. This year, Weiss says he called the Department of Transportation’s Parking Permits for People with Disabilities unit, asking for an explanation for the delay.
"I have called six times," Weiss said. "Twice each day. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Same thing. Never got through to anybody. In the past when I would call, I would always get through."
When we reached out to the Mayor’s Office, a spokeswoman told us the placard renewal was processed and the permit was issued on May 2nd. A DOT spokesman says the agency is reviewing the program internally to see if other measures can be implemented to improve service and reduce response time.
Weiss now has the new placard, but is skeptical about going through the process again next year when the permit expires.