City drivers were slapped with a record number of tickets last year for illegally using traffic cones to score coveted parking spots — but even their critics say the scofflaws deserve some sympathy.

The Sanitation Department dished out 533 traffic-cone-obstruction violations in 2025 after an equally record-setting 7,208 complaints were made about them to 311, according to a Post analysis of city data.

Last year’s more than 530 cone-related summonses — issued mainly in Queens — represented a nearly 6% increase from 2024, when 470 were doled out, an almost 100% jump from the 287 in 2023 and about a 900% hike from the 60 in 2022.

A man in a red jacket stands beside a car parked on the street with the “Jose Luis” restaurant, featuring outdoor seating, in the background.
The city last year issued a record number of tickets to scofflaws illegally saving parking spots with traffic cones.Helayne Seidman
The parking issue became so heated last year that a mother and daughter attacked a college student over a parking spot “reserved” by a neighbor with a garbage can in the Ridgewood section — an assault caught on viral video.

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“People will park anywhere,” griped Rob Ennis, a 51-year-old resident of Glendale, Queens.

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“The people next to me, they put out orange cones in places they shouldn’t. I had to fight with [other drivers] about it because they were taking up legal spots.”

A 42-year-old Ridgewood resident named JM said he’s heard of handicap walkers being used to reserve local spots — and has considered putting out cones himself.

“I’ve seen [cones] about four times in different places, and I take them and move them,” he said.

A nighttime street scene in a residential neighborhood with two houses, a red car, and a "Do Not Block Driveway" sign.
An illegal traffic cone is parked on a street in Glendale, Queens — the borough that by far has the most scofflaws.Jennifer Bain for The NY Post
Still, “it’s usually an hour to find a parking spot,” JM said.

“Sometimes I have no choice and have to leave it in front of a fire hydrant,” he said of his car. “I’ve lived here 30 years, and in the past 10 years, it’s become overcrowded.”

Queens represented more than 70% of the city’s traffic-cone violations issued in 2025, with 380 summonses handed out there. Out of 1,376 summonses issued across the Big Apple since 2020, 1,000 were given out in Queens, data show.

Queens Councilwoman Joann Ariola has blamed lax enforcement and limited space — with spots gobbled up by bike lanes and parking rules — for the increase in illegal parking.

A black Chevrolet parked next to an orange traffic barrel.
Illegal parking is a scourge in the Big Apple.Helayne Seidman
“It’s been happening for years,” said a 21-year-old Queens driver, Alex, of the cone-saving scofflaws.

But he said he’s sympathetic to the law violators.

“It’s so hard to park around here,” he said, “I understand people using cones to save parking spots.”

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Local plumber Flori Kasa, 33, said she just takes matters into her own hands.

“I move them, that’s it,” Kasa said while parking a car on Forest Avenue in Ridgewood.

“Nobody gets to take a spot with cones. I pay taxes. I don’t blame people for putting out cones, but it’s hard for me to park,” Kasa said.

A dark blue car parked on a city street next to a fire hydrant and an orange construction barrel.
The city says it is sometimes hard to ticket people over cones because it has to prove the orange items are theirs. Helayne Seidman
The Queens resident recalled one confrontation she had with a woman standing in a parking spot to reserve it.

“She said she was saving it. I said, ‘No, you’re not, I’m going to park there.’ I wouldn’t move, she wouldn’t move. I stayed there one hour — [and] I got the spot.”

Sanitation reps told The Post that traffic cones placed on the sidewalk or street are considered an illegal obstruction and therefore warrant administrative summonses with fines of up to $200 for repeat offenders.

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But while more than 25,000 cone-related complaints have been made to 311 since 2020, violations were issued just over 5% of the time, The Post’s analysis found.

“In order for us to issue a summons for this, the owner of the cones has to acknowledge that the cones are theirs,” a Sanitation Department rep said.

“We do investigate complaints for this by visiting the home and speaking with the homeowner. If they claim ownership of the cones, we will issue a summons for street obstruction. … If they do not claim the cones as their own, we will simply take them away.”