Anyone who reads this blog knows how much I love this city. But, there are things I dislike about it as much as I dislike Bloomberg. Right now, parking laws are my number one pet peeve.
Jill called my cell phone the other day hysterical. Her car had either been stolen or towed and all she knew was that it was not where she left it. She tried calling to see if it had been towed but could get no immediate answer. As her anxiety level grew, her fingers kept dialing and she eventually found out that indeed, it had been towed.
Now before I go on I want to say that Jill is the most meticulous person I have ever met. She checks and rechecks everything before she does anything and would never ever deliberately park illegally.
By the time I got to Jill, she had the exact location of her car and the credit card she needed to redeem it. I drove her to the hidden away pound between the LIE and the BQE where a Nazi security guard made me wait while Jill went in to pay her fine.
Five minutes, then ten minutes passed when suddenly Jill walked out shaking. It seems the credit card machine as down and they were only taking cash. Jill did not have $185 with her. Luckily for Jill, I never emptied my wallet after vacation and together we were able to scrape up the money she needed and was able to go back to claim her car. (The $175 ticket she gets to pay at a later date.)
Again, minutes passed. Only this time it took 30 minutes for Jill to reemerge. She then had to wait for a police officer to come and drive her to her vehicle. Again, only she was allowed to go in the car with him. I was forced to wait and worry.
Jill went back to the spot in question today to look around. The sign was very unclear. The yellow line painted on the curb was so faded that it could barely be seen with the naked eye. She took pictures and will go to a hearing to plead her case. Even if she wins,[she didn't win, didn't even get the ticket reduced] she has still suffered terrible stress and wasted a lot of time.
I always thought there had to be a grace period between when the ticket is issued and when the car is towed. I guess that is no longer true. Bloomberg needs money to keep the city running and he's found another way.
4 comments:
funny you should post this today, a friend just sent me a link in regards to a $50 fine i had to pay on top of a $65 expired meter ticket, which claimed to be the 3rd one sent when i'd never received the first two or even the original.
you're right, bloomie needs to find another way to get money for the city. and why all of a sudden does he have an extra 8% laying around to offer up to teachers raises? what does he want in exchange? 16 hour workdays that include thanksgiving and christmas? what gives with this guy?
oh, the article, a bit old, but very clear on the not so hidden agenda of the bloomie administration: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/28/parking-tickets-a-growing-source-of-city-revenue/
If you have an outstanding ticket of more than $110, and you park illegally, then the NYPD has carte blanche to tow your car. There have been quite a few articles in the past few weeks about quotas for the tow truck drivers, that they are denied overtime and other perks if they don't meet those quotas.
It has gotten to the point where I put money in a meter even if I know I will only be gone 5 minutes. It's just not worth it. (I am not even mentioning the red light camera tickets- hate to tell you how many of those I have gotten).
She had no outstanding tickets on the car. It was a first and only offense.
I was towed once. It is like going to hell and having to take a regents prep class three times with the same teacher.
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