The case of the phantom meter maid

Queens prosecutors must have first thought that meter maid Nivea S. Cloud was one busy lady on Friday, May 12, issuing 27 parking tickets in the span of three hours in seven different locations in Queens. However, after some investigation, the Queens District Attorney’s office realized that Cloud, in fact, had issued “phantom” tickets from her city vehicle, while she was parked in a handicapped spot in Long Island City.
On Tuesday, May 23, Cloud, a Queens Village resident, was charged with 27 counts of offering a false instrument for filing and falsifying business records. She was to appear in court on Wednesday, June 7, and her trial is expected to begin within the next few months.
According to the charges, Cloud ticketed six vehicles between 4:27 p.m. and 4:55 p.m. in front of 37-06 Broadway, but she was spotted at the same time parked in a handicapped parking spot at a municipal lot on 43rd Street in Long Island City.
Later that day, Cloud was observed parked in a municipal lot on Steinway Street in Astoria between 5:50 p.m. and 6:55 p.m., but she downloaded information into her police computer for 16 tickets in Long Island City during the same time. In addition, between 7:17 p.m. and 7:37 p.m. the same day, Cloud was parked on the corner of Northern Boulevard and Prince Street in Flushing, but she sent in tickets for five cars parked in front of 31-39 Steinway Street in Astoria - five miles away. Most of Cloud’s “phantom” tickets were issued to out-of-state vehicles.
“If the investigation shows that the tickets were written fraudulently, and they haven’t been dismissed, we would dismiss them, and if someone had paid them, we would move to refund those payments,” said Owen Stone, from the Department of Finance.
“As a municipal worker entrusted with such enormous financial powers over motorists and a duty and responsibility to uphold the law, the defendant’s alleged conduct is outrageous,” said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.