Someone is reusing surrendered license plates

From PIX11:

The DMV is supposed to destroy all license plates turned into its offices. A department official said the plates are sent to a recycler in upstate New York. But, the official admitted, there have been instances of surrendered plates turning up on other vehicles.

“Somebody is doing something illegal," Sandi said, speculating that someone, somewhere, must have the Durells' old plates.

Next, the Department of Finance sent the Durells a Notice of Impending Default, tacking on a $30 penalty and threatening to turn the case over to a collection agency.

Forest Hills streets become truck parking lots

From CBS 2:

Forest Hills, Queens residents say their streets have become an illegal rest stop.

As CBS2’s Lisa Rozner reported, the neighbors said tractor trainers form all over the country are parking and staying put for days, and they say no one is helping the problem.

Tractor trailers measuring 53 feet long stick out like a sore thumb on the Grand Central Parkway Service Road near 64th Road, filling up blocks. The city Department of Transportation said it is illegal for them to be there.

Residents said in the last year, the problem has gotten out of control.

“A parking lot — like a truck parking lot,” said Raj Patel of Forest Hills. “At night after 9 o’clock, it’s very hard parking. You can’t find the parking. You’ve got too many trucks here parking on the service road
“Because of this car, there’s lots of traffic over here, OK?” “They have to put sign, OK? ‘No parking,’” said Rafik Yusopov of Forest Hills.

“And they’re an eyesore,” said Laura Shepard.

The DOT said 53-foot trailers are only allowed on the nearby Van Wyck and Long Island expressways.

No one is removing dumped car

"please post the below with all attached pictures maybe someone high up will actually do something....

green honda minivan opposite the paul klapper elementary school near 144-42 gravett road. Dumped here 3 months ago. Owes $510 in outstanding parking tikets. Gets ticketed daily for expired inspections and 1x a week for street cleaning. Multiple 311 calls 6/4/2017# 1-1-1424383051, 6/25/2017 1-1-144250739671, 6/26/25017 #1-1-1425440791, 6/26/2017 #1-1425538231, 6/27/20171-1426033741. Officers from the 107 just ticket it for expired inspection piling up tickets. Great Job -Not!!. If you can issue a ticket it may be towed immediately. I guess they found a cash cow for tickets. We are back to the 70's and 80's of dumping cars. This is across from an elementary school." - anonymous

Police upset over parking placard ticket quota

From CBS 2:

Stunning charges Tuesday night claimed that the city is establishing a new parking ticket quota system going after drivers with government-issued permits.

As CBS2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported, city cash registers are apparently going to take in an estimated $6 million more from tickets issued to city workers who abuse their parking privileges and park illegally.

De Blasio made it clear that when he said he would hire 100 new traffic agents and establish a new 16-member NYPD permit abuse squad, it would be paid for with ticket revenue.

And? If you're abusing your position, you probably should be fined double.

City fines at an all time high

From AM-NY:

Fines for parking tickets, litter and other violations reached a record high of $993 billion in the 2016 fiscal year, according to a report released by the city comptroller Wednesday.

Since the 2013 fiscal year, when the city collected $811 million in fines, violations have been increasing, with parking tickets leading the way, according to the report.

In the last fiscal year, the city collected $545 million in ticket revenues. Quality of life violations, such as littering, building fines and noise complaints, were the second biggest category with $184 million in revenues.

CBS visits Greenpoint parking trap

From CBS 2:

It is called the parking trap of Brooklyn, on Manhattan Avenue between Huron and India streets. Even a Department of Transportation driver and Greenpoint’s city councilman have fallen for it.

“I’ve definitely gotten one or two tickets there myself,” said Councilman Stephen Levin (D-33rd).

A sign is set up on the sidewalk, and it says two-hour metered parking is permitted from the sign to the end of the block. But on the other side of the sign, parking is not allowed – even though there is a space is all circled off by the same white line.

But the space on the other side of the sign is a no standing zone. There is another sign saying as much on the corner, where there used to be a bus stop.

The bust stop moved last year, but the parking rules stayed.

“The best solution is actually restoring all of the parking on that whole block because there’s no bus stop there now, and so they really should restore all the parking that they can, and not give people a major headache and $115 ticket,” added Councilman Levin.

Fed up drivers said they have tried reaching out to the city to no avail, so CBS2 decided to show the images to the Department of Transportation. A department representative told CBS2, “The DOT will look into adjusting the markings in this area to eliminate confusion indicating where drivers can park.”

In the meantime, there's a new app to help you pay your tickets!

NYPD/DOT ticket trap snags unsuspecting motorists

From New York Shitty:

See the highlighted area above? The one which seems to be demarcated as a legally permissible parking space if one consults the lines drawn on the street? Well, it is most decidedly not legal and has become quite the revenue mill for our traffic enforcement officials. I have seen (and in one case, photographed) “meter maids” loitering nearby— in one case, for nearly twenty minutes— waiting for someone to park in this space so he or she can issue the motorist a ticket.

Before I proceed I would like to make it known why this space is illegal. Some time ago there was work conducted on the street proper. It was by Con Ed, I believe. This required moving the bus stop for the B43 and B62 approximately fifteen feet to the north (or, referencing the above photo, to the right). Given buses need a wide berth of passage this change is quite understandable and indeed necessary. The question still arises as to why the lines on the street were not changed, but we’ll table that matter.

It has been moved to the next block. So of course now the question arises as to why this parking space is still illegal. I will leave this for the “authorities” to answer.
What I can tell you— because I have seen it with my own eyes and filmed it— is “traffic” has stepped up their game regarding the enforcement of this illegal parking space. They are no longer simply issuing tickets. They have started towing the vehicles outright. And, as of this morning, they are breaking into said misplaced vehicles if need be in order to tow them. Don’t take my word for it, watch for yourself. Seeing is truly believing.

Out of state car registrations cost NY $93M

From Crains:

Newcomers are required to register their cars with New York authorities within 30 days of moving to the state, but many don't bother. As a result, they cheat the state and city out of millions of dollars in revenue while making use of precious free parking spaces.

Neither the city nor the state could provide an exact number of improperly registered cars on the road, but a 2011 state Senate report found that nearly 25% of all accidents in the state involving cars with Pennsylvania license plates occurred in Brooklyn—a number that suggests many of those cars' owners were New York residents, not visitors.

The report also found that motorists who live in New York but drive cars registered out of state cost the city $73 million in unpaid parking tickets and deprive the state of $1 million annually in fees for license plates, titles and vehicle registrations.

But those unpaid tickets and uncollected fees still take a back seat to the loss of potential sales tax revenue. A New Yorker who pays the average price for a new car—$33,560, according to Kelley Blue Book—must fork over about $3,000 in sales tax. Approximately 125,000 new cars were added to state Department of Motor Vehicles registration rolls in 2015. If up to 25% of residents' vehicles were purchased out of state, as the Brooklyn accident number suggests, New York could have lost out on more than $93 million in tax revenue.

City ticketed trucks illegally, now paying them instead

From the Daily News:

The city Law Department has agreed to pay a whopping $14 million to resolve a federal lawsuit alleging that commercial delivery trucks were improperly issued parking tickets, according to court papers.

The money will be deposited in a fund to be divvied up by hundreds of companies that are members of the New York Trucking and Delivery Association, which filed the class action suit nearly five years ago in Brooklyn Federal Court.

The suit alleged that city officials had cooked up a scheme to raise revenue by skirting a little known "Stipulated Fine Program" launched in 2004 that essentially allows trucks to legally double park outside the boundaries of 14th St. to 60th St. and First Ave. to Eighth Ave. while making deliveries.

Under the program, a double parking ticket can only be issued if there is an open parking space within 100 feet of the truck or if it is double parked for more than 30 minutes without visible activity.

But in May 2006, traffic agents began plastering double-parked trucks with more costly tickets for obstructing a traffic lane, which is a violation not covered under the program — and the Trucking and Delivery Association cried foul.

NYPD handing out tickets for legal parking

From the Village Voice:

The NYPD has issued illegal parking summonses to thousands of New Yorkers over the past seven years, the department admitted on Friday, extracting as much as $12 million from drivers who had broken no laws, mostly in lower-income neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens.

The $165 tickets were handed out to drivers who parked in front of pedestrian ramps at “T” intersections, a practice that has been perfectly legal since a rule change in 2009 designed to improve pedestrian safety and open up more parking.

The illegal tickets were discovered by Ben Wellington, a statistics professor in the City & Regional Planning program at the Pratt Institute. Wellington analyzed ticketing data publicly available through NYC Open Data, a city-run portal that disseminates datasets collected by a raft of city agencies — the site pumps out spreadsheets detailing everything from restaurant inspection results to the city’s most popular baby names. In this case Wellington, who also runs the well-known data blog IQuantNewYork, started crunching numbers earlier this year and found that the department’s mistake was widespread.

Van Bramer wants cars off sidewalks

From DNA Info:

A local lawmaker is looking to crack down on car dealerships along Northern Boulevard that park their cars on the sidewalk and force pedestrians to walk into the heavily-trafficked street to get by.

City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer said he's received a number of complaints from residents about auto dealers on the boulevard in Woodside and Long Island City — an area that's home to many dealerships, including Toyota, Mitsubishi and Volkswagon — blocking sidewalks with their displayed cars.

There are at least a dozen dealerships on Northern Boulevard between Steinway and 64th streets.

The NYPD did not return a query about the number of tickets given to car dealerships in the area, though a spokesperson said that the commanding officers of the 108th and 114th Precincts are aware of the issue and are addressing it.

City caught being greedy

@ReuvenBlau @winsjuliet First three taken on 5/29. The last earlier in May. Each booted car=$300. 4-8 cars a day=$$ pic.twitter.com/lgxtDzCxtd

— Martha Hyde (@StrideHyde) June 5, 2015

From CBS:

Four parking spaces near Prospect Park in Brooklyn have already been described as a lucrative ticket trap, and now, motorists say authorities have taken it all a step further – booting and towing cars.

Last month, 1010 WINS’ Juliet Papa reported on the four spaces at Prospect Park West and 9th Street.

Two signs are mounted overhead, and the bottom sign allows motorists to park there after 1 p.m. But the top sign says, “No standing April 1 to Sept. 30.”

On Sunday, the New York Daily News reported that the city will replace the signs and allow parking year-round in the four spaces. But two days before that, someone tweeted 1010 WINS’ Papa showing cars at the site had been outfitted with the Denver boot.

Police on Friday could not explain why cars would be booted rather than just ticketed.

The Department of Transportation said the signs will be changed next week.

Parking rules do not apply to enforcement agents

From PIX11:

New York City’s traffic enforcement agents, the ones who give out parking tickets, recently began illegally parking their own private cars on a busy city block. The parking signs on 38th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues in Manhattan make it clear that only commercial parking is allowed. The limit is three hours at a cost of $4 an hour. There are muni-meters up and down the block.

But a couple of weeks ago, trucks making pickups and deliveries on this garment center block, found there were no spaces available. The reason is that agents had begun parking their own private cars on the block, taking up almost all the spaces on both sides of the block. Business owners and truck drivers complained to PIX Investigates.

We learned that the Traffic Enforcement Division had recently opened a new office on 36th Street and 7th Avenue. Apparently many of the agents decided to use W. 38th Street as their own private parking area, despite the fact that they are not commercial vehicles and were not paying for the parking.

Most parking tickets now fought online

From CBS New York:

Technology is a two-way street when it comes to parking violations in New York City.

As CBS2’s Tony Aiello reported, high-tech tools allow the city to write more and more tickets. But they also make fighting a ticket you think is unfair a little easier.

At New York City Parking Court, the waiting room is often mostly empty these days, and the hearing rooms are hardly ever crowded. Like so much of life, the process of fighting a parking ticket has moved online.

“On the Web is probably one of the easiest and most efficient ways to have it,” said Kevin Timoney of the New York City Department of Finance.

Timoney said about 50 percent of ticket adjudications now take place online, with a system that makes it easy to upload evidence to argue your case. For instance, a scan of a Muni-Meter receipt or a picture of a parking sign may easily be uploaded.

Everything will be reviewed by an administrative law judge sworn to be impartial.

“Take as many pictures – overkill is better than underkill,” said Administrative Law Judge Frank Reyes. “Submit as many items as you think is necessary.”

Proposal to paint hydrant & bus stop curbs

From Queens Gazette:

A city lawmaker is proposing a measure that would require the city to paint curbs near fire hydrants and bus stops with red paint to clarify them as no parking zones.

Brooklyn City Councilmember Vincent Gentile will introduce the bill to the council this week in an effort to spare motorists from receiving tickets issued when they park too close to hydrants and bus stops throughout the city.

Motorists face a $115 fine if they are caught parking within 15-feet on either side of a hydrant or between a bus stop sign and the closest no parking sign on the same block, authorities said.

Gentile said the red paint would stand out and eliminate any question as to whether or not motorists are parked in no parking zones.

Watch out on Woodward Avenue!

Why does the DOT paint parking lanes that are obviously too narrow?

Ticket trap?

And if you were on a bike, would you want to ride in the lane here? Sheesh.

Parking Avenger strikes again

"He thought his union card would entitle him to a free space. Nope, not when you have a parking avenger making sure the traffic agents do their job." - anonymous

Expired placard = ticket

Hmmm...an expired placard?

So whose ride is this? Helen's?

Ah, sweet justice!

Alternate side regulations may be changed

From the NY Times:

It is the New York City driver’s public shame — a sentence of solitary front-seat confinement levied against those for whom subways, buses and taxis are insufficient.

For at least 90 minutes each week, residents move their vehicles from their curbside berths, slide into formation behind a row of double-parked neighbors and moor together in a singular urban traffic jam, beholden to a hulking contraption whose distinguishing feature appears to be this: It swirls plastic bags and cigarette stubs briefly before returning them to the earth.

But the ignominy of alternate-side-of-the-street parking, which allows city workers to clean roadways without the obstruction of parked cars, could soon be eased. A bill that will have a hearing before the City Council on Monday would allow drivers to return to parking spaces once the street sweepers pass, causing a potentially significant reduction in wait times for those doomed to mornings in their cars.

Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, a Democrat from Manhattan and the bill’s sponsor, said the legislation would prevent accidents by reducing the duration of double-parking; help the environment, with fewer cars idling or driving in search of spaces; and save New Yorkers “millions of dollars” in lost time.

The Sanitation Department has defended the current process — and, indeed, some residents made clear that if a street has not been cleaned in several days, it shows.

The department, which is expected to oppose the measure, also noted some potential complications with Mr. Rodriguez’s plan. Unlike its snow equipment, the city’s 450 mechanical street sweepers do not have GPS technology that could allow residents to track when the vehicles are gone.

And even if it were added, officials said, the technology has often proved unreliable, leaving department officials reluctant to depend upon it as a precise indicator of when a street has been swept.

The department added that streets were often revisited after an initial cleaning if illegally parked cars prevented the sweepers from cleaning thoroughly the first time around, a practice that would be upended if other cars were allowed to return immediately after the sweepers passed.

Tickets issued in Corona for legal parking

From NY1:

One Corona intersection has four crosswalks that lead to nowhere, yet drivers are still ticketed for parking in front of them.

"I'm parking legally but I'm still getting tickets," says Julio Rodriguez, a Corona resident.

The $115 tickets are issued for blocking a pedestrian crosswalk. Rodriguez says he has repeatedly fought and got them dismissed.

"I've won 39 tickets but to tell you the truth I'm tired," says Rodriguez.

Rodriguez says he's tired of taking off work, driving to court, paying for parking and generally wasting his time. NY1 found that according to New York City Traffic rules, parking is allowed at some "T" intersections—those without traffic signals, all-way stop signs or crosswalk markings—even if there is a curb cut at that location. The exact description of this particular intersection.

After getting 39 tickets dismissed, Rodriguez says he believes the 'T' in 'T' intersection stands for Ticket Trap.

This has been going on for a long time.