Board Of Education Employees, Police Officers And . . . Location Scouts?

Did you know that location scouts and go-fers get special parking permits that allow them to park at meters for free? Or at least used to:

The free ride is over for film location scouts and some other key industry workers who for 40 years have enjoyed parking anywhere in the city without paying.

The Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting, citing abuses of the privilege, has scrapped the free parking tags effective June 30, when current permits expire.

While shooting permits that allow film crews to take over whole city blocks will not be affected, industry insiders say the change will make their jobs harder.

“It will change, on a nuts and bolts level, how we go about our job,” said Dana Robin, a local production manager with 24 years’ experience working on big studio flicks. “There is a significant uproar.”

. . .

The surprise move to end the parking perks caught the local film industry by surprise.

“What am I to do? Get six parking tickets and send them to a producer?” said Gary Gasgarth, a film production teacher at the New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies. “At the very least, it is an annoyance and irritation that we don’t need.”

Location scouts have long been granted special tags to hang from their rear view mirror that allowed them to park anywhere. Scouts have to run around the city to find ideal indoor and outdoor locations. Set designers and wardrobe personnel also use the permits to ferry props and clothes to and from sets.

Emphasis added because isn’t the obvious answer to simply pay for parking?