Andrew Cuomo is a lot of things — out-of-touch nepo baby, alleged sex pest, granny killer, two-time loser of the race to become New York City’s next mayor — but if there’s one thing he definitely isn’t, it’s good at driving. Whether we’re talking about red lights, speed limits, or no-parking zones, the man loves to treat traffic laws like suggestions. And if you thought he might follow the law while driving the white Ford Bronco he insists is not the O.J. Bronco, I have some bad news for you: Hell Gate reports he just got ticketed for parking it illegally.
Now, Cuomo is wealthy, so the cost of that ticket is unlikely to affect his ability to pay his bills or even impact his budget in any way. People with that kind of money tend to treat parking tickets and other citations as the cost of being allowed to do whatever they want, which is part of why fines in other countries often scale based on income. Since the U.S. thinks you should be able to break any traffic laws you want as long as you can afford the fine, though, Cuomo reportedly felt comfortable parking his ’96 Bronco in a “truck loading only” zone outside his East 54th Street apartment.
Unfortunately for Cuomo, parking cops in NYC do sometimes still ticket illegally parked cars, even if they’re parked in wealthy areas, so he will have to pay that off at some point, which I’m sure is annoying for him. Oh well.
Stay classy, Cuomo
If Cuomo had decided to stay retired from public life instead of teaming up with a bunch of billionaires and Republicans to try and buy the mayoral election, he may have gotten away with it. It’s also possible he may have been ticketed anyway, but odds are, Hell Gate wouldn’t have found out about it. But he did, and as a result, one of the people who noticed his “totally not O.J.’s Bronco” Ford Bronco parked illegally was a Hell Gate reader who sent in the tip themselves.
“I walk down to the river past his apartment building a couple of times a week, and I hadn’t seen it before, but I had seen it in the news, so I knew exactly what it was,” our tipster told us. They added, “There were construction guys trying to not hit it and maneuvering around it.”
Our tipster then filed a 311 complaint about the Bronco.
“At first I thought it was funny, but then I knew it was illegal parking, no one’s allowed to park there. I wanted to report it,” they said.
And report it they did. But they did at least suggest the parking cops consider letting Cuomo off easy, saying, “Parked in a truck loading only zone. Unless he’s moving out today then I guess give him a break.” Clearly, they did not give him a break, though, because 17 minutes later, the 311 app showed Cuomo’s Bronco had been ticketed.
When reached for a comment, a spokesperson for Cuomo told Hell Gate that “if true, the ticket will be paid and I wish you all the luck in the world once this piece gets submitted for Pulitzer consideration.” How classy.
