A senior city housing official was busted for using a fraudulent parking placard, officials said Wednesday.
Vivian Louie, assistant commissioner for the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, faces up to seven years behind bars after city investigators found a photocopy of an official city placard in the dashboard of her 1998 Toyota RAV4 in Manhattan, the Department of Investigation said.
DOI says it caught Louie red-handed on March 6, when an investigator spotted the placard in a spot on Spruce Street in Lower Manhattan.
The placard “appeared to be photocopied” and did not have an official Department of Transportation holographic emblem, investigators said.
When confronted, Louie confirmed “in substance” that the placard was fake, DOI said Wednesday.
At the time, the $148,000-per-year bureaucrat did not have a valid driver’s license — which could get her another 30 days for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
Louie pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to all charges. She is due back in court Jan. 7.
Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed in February 2019 to crack down on people who abuse city-issued parking placards — which give drivers reprieve from some parking regulations while conducting city business — but has revoked just two permits so far.
Anthony Proia, a spokesman for HPD, said Louie remains employed at the agency.
Louie did not immediately return requests for comment.
Additional reporting by Vincent Barone