New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is under fire after defending the revival of large, hard-to-remove “stickers of shame” plastered on cars that violate parking rules and block street cleaning.

The bright lime-green stickers, measuring 8.5 by 11 inches, require a scraper to remove and had been banned for more than a decade. City Council member Gale Brewer pushed for their return, and the first ones appeared Tuesday morning on vehicles along West 90th Street between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West.

Mamdani, who neither signed nor vetoed the measure but is implementing it, voiced support while speaking to reporters. “It is critically important that the Sanitation Department be able to conduct street cleaning,” he said. “Whenever I meet the hardworking members of DSNY, the question is always how we can make their jobs easier. If this measure accomplishes that, I fully support it.”

Critics quickly condemned the policy. Former City Council member David Greenfield, who helped ban the stickers years ago, called them vandalism. “For 14 blissful years, these stickers were illegal in NYC… Many of drivers getting stickered were innocent and the glue wrecked their cars,” he said. “A ticket is a penalty. Gluing trash to someone’s windshield is vandalism.”Social media users echoed the outrage, questioning why the city does not simply tow the vehicles or issue standard tickets. The Department of Sanitation reports that more than half a million cars violate alternate-side parking rules each week. Officials argue the $65 summons has become little more than the accepted cost of free street parking, leaving streets dirtier.







Sanitation Commissioner Gregory Anderson and Brewer maintain the stickers improve compliance so crews can clean effectively. Opponents counter that the garish adhesives punish drivers excessively and risk damaging vehicles.The debate highlights ongoing tensions in New York over enforcement methods, cleanliness, and the balance between deterrence and fairness under the new mayoral administration.

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