Booting is on the rise in New York City.
Drivers who don’t pay up for traffic tickets are more likely to have their cars ensnared than they have been at any point since before the pandemic all but shut down enforcement, according to city data.
New Yorkers’ vehicles were immobilized 134,945 times in 2023. That’s more than quadruple the number of boots clamped onto wheels throughout the city in 2020, when only 31,379 vehicles were captured by the devices’ metal fangs.
Drivers who fail to pay $350 or more in parking or traffic camera tickets within 100 days of their issuance are subject to booting.
Many booted vehicles get towed away. If their owners don’t retrieve them, the city can sell them at auction.
Ryan Lavis, a spokesperson for the New York City Department of Finance, told Gothamist in a statement that the high booting rates “are a result of the backlog of outstanding tickets that were issued during the pandemic, when penalties and booting were suspended.” He said that enforcement resumed in full in May of 2022.
The people responsible for booting vehicles work for the local Sheriff’s office, or are city marshals — private contractors the municipality hires to help with civil enforcement. Gothamist found that last year, the 31 city marshals pulled in record profits, earning a combined nearly $19.5 million in net income.
More than 1,100 owners never retrieved their cars after towing in 2023, and the city sold the vehicles at auction. Another 8,274 vehicles were flagged as “runaways” in city data, meaning people managed to remove the boots and drove off.
This year is also on track to record a lot of car booting. There have been 74,975 vehicles booted across the city in 2024, with drivers owing fines totaling more than $118 million.
The city now has more automated enforcement cameras, which issue tickets to speeding drivers, than ever before. Recently, the city also gained the authorization to install more cameras to catch drivers who disobey red lights.
“We encourage all New Yorkers to pay or dispute their outstanding parking tickets in a timely fashion to avoid adverse consequences, such as booting and other penalties,” Lavis said. “The Department of Finance provides ample warning to motorists before booting their cars and offers several ways for motorists to resolve their debts, including payment plans.”