Triple-parked cars of government employees in front of the "The Tombs" in Lower Manhattan

State Court officials have turned Mulberry Street in Chinatown into their own private parking lot, valet service included. Today’s Daily News has a great article on the scam. Every morning two uniformed State Court officers block off the street with orange traffic cones allowing only their fellow employees to drive in and park their private vehicles — on the sidewalk. From The News:

When The News first arrived at 7:45 a.m. last Tuesday, bright orange cones lined the west side of the street, reserving the precious parking spots for court employees with special parking placards. When court employees arrived, one of the two state court officers sitting in an unmarked car would jump out and remove the cones. The drivers would then glide into their reserved spot, parking halfway on the sidewalk, which is illegal.

After the Daily News picked up on revelations of illegal government employee parking in Streetsblog a couple of months ago about, Mayor Bloomberg promised to fix the problem.