Exclusive | NYC drivers hit with record number of tickets for maddening parking scam and this borough is worst

City drivers were slapped with a record number of tickets last year for illegally using traffic cones to score coveted parking spots — but even their critics say the scofflaws deserve some sympathy.The Sanitation Department dished out 533 traffic-cone-obstruction violations in 2025 after an equally record-setting 7,208 complaints were made about them to 311, according to a Post analysis of city data.Last year’s more than 530 cone-related summonses — issued mainly in Queens — represented a nearly 6% increase from 2024, when 470 were doled out, an almost 100% jump from the 287 in 2023 and about a 900% hike from the 60 in 2022.The parking issue became so heated last year that a mother and daughter attacked a college student over a parking spot “reserved” by a neighbor with a garbage can in the Ridgewood section — an assault caught on viral video.“People will park anywhere,” griped Rob Ennis, a 51-year-old resident of Glendale, Queens.“The people next to me, they put out orange cones in places they shouldn’t.

I had to fight with [other drivers] about it because they were taking up legal spots.”A 42-year-old Ridgewood resident named JM said he’s heard of handicap walkers being used to reserve local spots — and has considered putting out cones himself.“I’ve seen [cones] about four times in different places, and I take them and move them,” he said.Still, “it’s usually an hour to find a parking spot,” JM said.“Sometimes I have no choice and have to leave it in front of a fire hydrant,” he said of his car.

“I’ve lived here 30 years, and in the past 10 years, it’s become overcrowded.”Queens represented more than 70% of the city’s traffic-cone violations issued in 2025, with 380 summonses handed out there.Out of 1,376 summonses issued across the Big Apple since 2020, 1,000 were given out in Queens, data show.Queens Councilwoman Joann Ariola has blamed lax enforcement and limited space — with spots gobbled by bike lane...