Thursday, October 1, 2026
The City of Long Beach has announced that it will institute a parking ticket amnesty program during March, where residents who pay their outstanding parking tickets before the end of the month will have their late fees and penalties deducted by the city.
City Council President Thomas R. Sofield Jr. announced the one-time only program on Feb. 23. According to a press release, amnesty notices are being mailed to all residents who have outstanding parking violations on a vehicle registered in their name.
Sofield is encouraging those who have not paid for their parking violations to take advantage of the program. “Pay your outstanding parking tickets before March 31 and the City will deduct late fees and penalties generated by those tickets,” Sofield said in a statement.
“By removing penalties and offering a convenient online payment system, we believe that motorists will make the decision to take responsibility for their debt,” City Council Vice President Mona Goodman told the Herald.
City Manager Charles Theofan could not be reached for comment on Friday.
Goodman, who said she believes the program will be effective, said that she hopes those who owe payments to the city will come forward to embrace the one-time only program.
“I’m certainly hopeful. I think it’s a great incentive,” Goodman said. “Depending on how successful it is, we may offer it again in the future.”
Goodman added, “We want to encourage people to pay their outstanding parking fines,” she said. “It’s my understanding that there is a significant amount of outstanding parking violations.”
Goodman, however, was unable to provide a number for how many violations the city is addressing.
Sofield said that the amnesty program will benefit motorists who have racked up tickets in the long run.
“The Parking Ticket Amnesty program provides those motorists who have not paid their parking tickets with an opportunity to pay the violation fees before their debts cause additional penalties, impound fees or seizure of cars or other assets,” said Sofield.
Failure to pay the amount due or to appear before the city court may result in denial of vehicle registration and suspension of vehicle registration.
For residents to fully benefit from the program, according to the release, payments must be made in full. To pay online, residents may use MasterCard, Visa or Discover at www.parkingticketpayment.com/longbeach. Certified checks or money orders should be mailed to City Court of Long Beach, 1 West Chester St., Long Beach, NY 11561, postmarked no later than March 31.
Check out an expanded version of the story in next week’s issue of the Herald, to include reactions from motorists.
Comments about this story? CEngelhardt@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 207.
