Legis. John Ferretti presses for data on Nassau boot-and-tow program

For months, Nassau Legislator John Ferretti (R-Levittown) has been asking the administration of County Executive Laura Curran for specifics about the county’s boot-and-tow program.

His first request came after Curran told WABC-TV in September that she had “ordered a full review of our process” after the station reported that Nassau had erroneously booted a family’s cars.

The county can boot a vehicle — immobilize it with a metal block on the front wheel — after the owner has accumulated two unpaid tickets, including parking and red light camera violations.

Ferretti asked about the full review ordered by Curran at an Oct. 3 budget hearing. David Rich, executive director of the county’s Traffic and Parking violations Agency, testified that errors reported by ABC were unique and had been corrected.

Ferretti asked again in a Jan. 9 letter to Curran and Rich, noting one of his own constituents had been wrongfully booted in December. Ferretti specifically requested records involving erroneous boots and the locations of all boots placed in Nassau County since  Jan. 1, 2018. He also requested any reports resulting from the county's review of the process.

“I want the location and placement of every single boot,” Ferretti said in an interview. “I want to see if Levittown is being targeted.”

After getting no response, Ferretti wrote again on Feb. 11, threatening to subpoena the information if he didn’t get it by Friday. As chairman of a legislative committee, Ferretti has subpoena authority.

On Tuesday afternoon, Newsday asked the Curran press office if the administration planned to respond to Ferretti or wait for a subpoena.

Ferretti said about an hour later, he received an email from Curran’s legislative liaison, Katie Horst, acknowledging his two letters and telling him Rich would respond tomorrow.

“Tomorrow is today,” Ferretti said Wednesday. “I’m not holding my breath.”

He said he already had asked an attorney for the Republican legislative majority to begin drafting a subpoena.

“I am not bluffing on this,” Ferretti said.

Subsequently, Ferretti said a stack of papers was delivered to his office at 4:40 p.m. Wednesday — five minutes before the close of the county workday.

“I haven’t seen it yet,” Ferretti said. “I am asking my assistant to scan them to me. I will review them, see what they sent me and take it from there.”