TICKETED AND TOWED FROM THE WRONG LOCATION

DEAR SERGEANT AL: From http://www.city-data.com/forum/new-york-city/1612410-how-do-i-fight-nyc-parking.html#ixzz247LR1HR1: 

“Ten days ago I got a ticket in Manhattan and my car was towed for allegedly parking in a no standing zone. The address given on the ticket as the "Place of Occurrence" is a long (avenue) block and a half away from where I was actually parked. I went to that address, and there is indeed a no standing sign there. But I was not violating any parking rules where I was actually parked (it was in a street sweeping zone, and I was not parked during street sweeping time). I am absolutely 100% sure of where I parked (in fact, I've been street parking my car in the neighborhood for three and a half years, and I've NEVER parked anywhere on the block the ticket claims I was on - it is a block with all no standing/commercial loading)."

"I retrieved my car from the tow pound a couple of days later (as soon as I realized it was towed), and paid $185 + $20 storage = $205 to get my car back. The ticket itself (which I have not paid yet) is for $95. My question is how do I fight this ticket? I have no witnesses, and could not take a picture of the car where I parked it since it had been towed. Once I got to see the ticket (after I got my car back) I called the tow pound and asked if they keep a log of where towed cars were picked up. The person I got did not have a helpful attitude, and said that information is not recorded. If I go in for an in-person hearing and testify to the error, what are my chances of winning? [Do you] have any ideas of another strategy to prove my case?” --–HONESTLY I JOKED AROUND CIRCLING and KICKING MY CAR.

DEAR HIJACK YOUR CAR: What a disaster. So sorry to hear about you going through this fiasco, but there seems to be a hole in your story: “I retrieved my car from the tow pound a couple of days later (as soon as I realized it was towed)?” Why did it take you a couple of days to realize your car was gone from a Manhattan street whether you parked it on the street as you say or the avenue it was towed from as the ticket indicates? If the discovery took days why did you leave a car for days parked on a street in Manhattan to think you can just leave it there and not have it eventually violate a parking regulation whether it actually did or didn't? Obviously something is missing from your story if not withheld that needs further explanation, whether it has to do with why you were towed or not. Even if you are a Manhattan resident you should never leave a car parked on a Manhattan street under those circumstances and not monitored for days. Folks: For those contemplating visiting Manhattan in their lifetime: over a half million vehicles visit Manhattan everyday with only so many few STREET parking spaces. The system is set up to make driving and parking in Manhattan difficult if not impossible and VERY EXPENSIVE by getting a ticket REALLY easy. KEEP YOUR CAR OUT OF MANHATTAN. I’m going to take your word, however to assume what you are telling me is all up and up to proceed further on what you can do.

 I’m further sorry to tell you that your case will be difficult to prove based on the information you are giving me here. Unless you can find additional evidence like a video surveillance camera recording of your vehicle being towed away from the wrong location based on the ticket, this will be hard to prove, but let’s try to take a stab at it. Here’s the scoop: whomever you spoke to at the tow pound was WRONG. Each city tow pound is required to produce a tow sheet (a voucher) for each car and a tow log entry once the car arrives at the pound. Times are recorded on either when the car was towed or when it arrived at the pound. By regulation and LAW the pound MUST keep a record of where EXACTLY the car was towed, so they require each tow operator to maintain a tow sheet of each car which includes the who what where when and why of the violation, the description and contents of the vehicle being brought in for custody, and if there is any damage to the vehicle. By LAW they are required to give this to you if you ask for it. Let me give you a piece of advice that was one of the first things I learned in the police academy: ALWAYS GET A NAME SO YOU CAN PLACE THE BLAME.  Call back or preferably GO TO that tow pound and ASK TO SPEAK TO A SUPERVISOR:

1.  BE NICE as doing so can get you more help than you were expecting. While what happened to you was wrong and you are entitled to redress if what you say happened to you is correct, but on the other hand that job of ticketing and towing is a very stressful (AND A DANGEROUS) one and mistakes sometimes happen. Get their name, rank, and badge number, and go about it nicely, please THANK YOU.

2.   Explain what happened. Request a copy of the TOW SHEET. If you are at the pound request to see the TOW LOG as well. When the tow comes into the pound each car has to be recorded into a log.

3.   Make sure your car is recorded IN BOTH PLACES. If the locations are different take either a picture or make a photocopy of the LOG.

4.   Compare the tow location on the ticket to what’s on the tow sheet and the log. If they are different in any way you have a dismissible violation.

5.  If you cannot print both the violation location or your alleged actual parked location on Google Street View from your computer printer, go back to the scene and take pictures of both the locations and the regulation signs, and mark them appropriately on the pictures for the judge. Click here to find both locations and what the regulations are for both.

6. There is also the possibility that your car was relocation towed to the avenue sometime after you parked it on the street. This most likely could have happened on a weekend if you parked on a major thoroughfare side street like Houston, 14th, 23rd, 42nd, etc. and they moved your car to an avenue due to something like a street fair or the Fourth of July Detail or a parade or demonstration. Check with the police precinct desk to find out if this was the case; they keep a log of this at the staionhouse. If so, you have another reason for dismissal and another reason why you should not park a car to leave it for days even if you think it will be legal there to not go back and check on it.

7.   Plead “NOT GUILTY” and request either a personal appearance hearing date or mail your evidence (make photocopies of everything) to have a hearing by mail.

If you get any kind of resistance to any of these above steps that is where you have to decide if hiring a lawyer is worth the money to fight this ticket and tow. The ticket says your car was parked at a time, date, and location that was a violation. You say the car was parked elsewhere legally under a different regulation. Prove it. You are going to have to prove by preponderance of the evidence that you were parked elsewhere during the date, time, and location that is on the ticket, and that is up to you to prove, no one else. If all the documentation I state you need is all synced and correct, the chances of dismissal are nil. If one of them is inconsistent, then the chances are more than 50/50 in your favor. Next time when coming to Manhattan if you don't live there, do yourself a favor and spare yourself this kind of agony by:

1.    LEAVING YOUR CAR AT HOME. Driving and parking in Manhattan is only for the foolish or the rich. If you are neither, then you have no business bringing your car into Manhattan. If you are scared of driving amongst crazy cabs and heavy traffic in midtown Manhattan, then most likely you don’t know how to really drive a car at all to have no business driving there or elsewhere PERIOD. If you take a car into Manhattan to not know what you are doing then you deserve whatever happens to you and your car as a result, and I mean it. The same rule applies for tourists who foolishly visit New York to stay at a Manhattan hotel and then rent a car to drive around. Unless leaving Manhattan to visit elsewhere off the island, don’t even rent a car when visiting Manhattan. Cab it or use mass transit to get there faster than you would with your car. If you are from nearby out of town and wish to drive to visit New York, then park your car at a Metro North, Jersey Transit, or Long Island Railroad station outside the city where permits are NOT required, and then train into Manhattan to enjoy your visit. Besides it’s way less stressful this way.

2.  PARKING YOUR CAR IN A GARAGE INSTEAD. If you insist on being foolish or money is no object, then don’t be cheap to actually spend the money. A two-hour visit in a garage during the day for an appointment in midtown is what, $20-$30 plus tip? The worst you have to worry is the extra expense and your car getting scratched or dented by a parking attendant. You face the same issues when you park on the street plus your car getting vandalized as well. If you insist on being cheap, then you should have considered this to leave the car at home and spend subway fare to get around Manhattan, which is faster and cheaper. You become more foolish than cheap to overlook that gas is now over $4/gallon and not worth it wasting time and gas circling around looking for a parking spot that rarely exists in Manhattan.

3.  TAKING THE SUBWAY OR BUS TO GET AROUND TOWN. If you don’t feel safe riding on a train or bus in New York City, even after all that effort the last thirty years by the police to bring crime and terrorism down to the ridiculously safe rates they are now, then you have no business visiting anything about New York City AT ALL. You don’t get it and you miss the entire point. Do New Yorkers a favor and spend your money to go elsewhere.

So you are WARNED: driving and parking in Manhattan is not for the faint of heart! There is no law that says you can park a car in New York City or Manhattan for that matter and leave it there for days in the same spot without it eventually violating a parking regulation. Even if the signs don’t say you can. You should have checked that car EVERY DAY to make sure it was still there and to make sure things like temporary signs weren’t placed for things like for filming or construction permits. The tow pound might have been wrong for towing your car if what you say is true, but you parking your car where and how you did for all that time wasn’t right either. But don’t let this alarm you HIJACK YOUR CAR, I’m still on your side. Although you are the one who has to pay the money to get your car back and to pay the ticket fine, you can afford to be more wrong than the tow pound can about where the car was actually parked, which is why I hope you are able to get the ticket dismissed. But I’m giving some tuff luv ferya in the meantime. Good luck with the ticket!

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