NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9521A
SPONSOR: Williams TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to abandoned
vehicles
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Allow for abandoned vehicles to be removed off City of New York roads.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1224(2) of the VTL currently provides that ownership of a vehi-
cle deemed abandoned on any roadway shall immediately vest in the local
authority having jurisdiction over the roadway if, among other criteria,
the wholesale value of the vehicle, based on its physical condition at
the time of abandonment, is $1,250 or less.
JUSTIFICATION:
The New York City Department of Sanitation (the "Department") is respon-
sible for the removal of unlawfully abandoned vehicles from streets and
other public areas in New York City. The commercial value of these vehi-
cles, commonly referred to as "derelicts" or "hulks", is marginal, often
the result of scavenging and vandalism.
The Department manages and oversees the expedient removal of unlawfully
abandoned vehicles from City roadways and public areas through its Dere-
lict Vehicle Operations ("DVO") Program and through the Department's
new, joint DSNY NYPD Citywide Abandoned Vehicle Taskforce, which enables
both agencies to increase abandoned vehicle, operations. Vehicles
subject to the DVO Program must meet both statutory requirements under
VTL § 1224(1), which includes-the requirement that the vehicle display
substantial interior or exterior damage. The Department's uniformed
field personnel and enforcement officers identify the worst, and poten-
tially dangerous, derelict vehicles based on specific criteria developed
by the Department as to the vehicle's physical condition. This set of
criteria allows Department personnel to reasonably approximate the
wholesale value set forth under VTL § 1224(2). Upon determining that the
vehicle is derelict, the vehicle is tagged and subsequently removed by a
towing contractor, who arranges for the recycling or proper disposal of
the abandoned vehicle. Consistent with VTL § 1224(2), the Department
will not arrange for a vehicle without plates to be towed if the Depart-
ment determines the vehicle is worth more than $1,250. Vehicles deter-
mined to be worth more than $1,250 are removed by the New York City
Police Department under its Rotation Towing Program.
Since its DVO Program was created, the Department has updated and
improved many of its methods and operational procedures for managing
abandoned vehicles through utilization of advanced communications tech-
nology, agency personnel training, coordinated. City and State agency
efforts, and successful legislative reform. The wholesale value of the
abandoned vehicle under VU § 1224(2), however, has only been increased
four times since the State's abandoned vehicle legislation was enhanced
by Chapter 829 of the Laws of 1969. In 1969, the wholesale value was
fixed at $100. The last change to the statutory wholesale value of an
abandoned vehicle occurred in 2002 - over twenty years ago -when the
wholesale value was increased from $750 to $1,250.
Today, many physical components of hulk vehicles left abandoned, such as
tires and hood ornaments and certain vehicle parts, are worth more than
$1,250. Accordingly, this legislation which increases the wholesale
value of an abandoned vehicle from $1,250 to $3,000 is long overdue and
necessary to reflect the current market value of vehicles and their
components, and to keep pace with inflation.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New legislation
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
N/A
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect 180 days after it shall have become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9521--A
IN ASSEMBLY
March 20, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WILLIAMS, BURGOS, BICHOTTE HERMELYN, DAVILA,
REYES -- read once and referred to the Committee on Transportation --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to abandoned
vehicles
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 1224 of the vehicle and traffic
2 law, as amended by chapter 540 of the laws of 2002, is amended to read
3 as follows:
4 2. If an abandoned vehicle, at the time of abandonment, has no number
5 plates affixed and is of a wholesale value, taking into consideration
6 the condition of the vehicle, of [one] three thousand [two hundred
7 fifty] dollars or less, ownership shall immediately vest in the local
8 authority having jurisdiction thereof and title to the vehicle shall
9 vest in accordance with applicable law and regulations of the commis-
10 sioner, provided however that a local authority shall not be required to
11 obtain title to an abandoned vehicle that is subject to the provisions
12 of this subdivision if the vehicle will be sold or otherwise disposed of
13 as junk or salvage, dismantled for use other than as a motor vehicle, or
14 otherwise destroyed.
15 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
16 it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14319-04-4
