5 Costly Mistakes Reading NYC Parking Signs

Last Updated on September 16, 2017 by Lawrence Berezin

Mis-reading NYC parking signs will cost you a bunch of money

Ralph is visiting our fair city from Topeka Kansas. It’s his first time in New York City.

Ralph is very excited to sight-see and rented a car to drive around the city. His first stop was the World Trade Center. Ralph found an empty parking space right on the boulevard of broken dreams and eased his chariot to the curb. “Wow,” he thought. This was easy.

Fast forward 10 days. Ralph is sitting in his hotel room at 1 p.m. with the shades closed and lights out. There are 16 parking tickets strewn across his bed. Ralph is flying out of NYC tomorrow and vows never to return.

It was like leading a Kansas lamb to the slaughter.

Has this ever happened to you?

Can you read these NYC parking signs correctly?

1.   

These confusing parking signs victimized a wonderful client of New York Parking Ticket (and I’m sure many other members of the driving public). She thought parking on Sunday was permitted, and there wasn’t any arrow on the bottom red NYC parking signs. She was wrong.

Translation

What in the name of safe parking does the lower, red, sliver of a parking sign mean? “Other times no standing?” And there’s no arrow.

The No Parking Rule displayed on the top white parking sign is in effect all days, EXCEPT Sunday. However, the lower, red sign prohibits standing before 8 a.m., after 6 p.m. and all day Sunday.

When a parking sign doesn’t have an arrow it means that the rule regulates the curb space in BOTH directions. Grimace.

2.

I wrote about this ambush in a prior blog post. These two signs are super rainmakers for the Evil Empire. The driving public cried, “confusing” because the red sign prohibited standing between April 1 and September 1, while the white sign prohibited parking for street cleaning between 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Translation

No, always, every time trumps yes in Parking Ticket Land. Don’t get caught because you engaged in some wishful sign reading. No’s are unlimited and cumulative.

The top red sign says no between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. all days (including Sunday) between April 1 and September 1. Before April 1 and After September 1, pretend the top red sign doesn’t exist.

The bottom white street cleaning sign is simple. It says no parking on Tuesdays between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. This rule is in effect all year around.

Two no’s don’t make a yes.

Simple, right?

3.

Our wonderful client received a parking ticket for parking in a space regulated by the invisible sign hidden by the tree.

Translation

The hidden sign defense is a practical defense to an NYC parking ticket. The challenge is convincing a parking ticket judge that you couldn’t see the parking sign.

A picture is worth a thousand words. And, a picture that cries out, “you can’t see me,” is worth $115.

4.  

Our wonderful client parked his car at 11:30 p.m. looked down the block and didn’t see the Taxi Relief Stand sign way in the distance. The next morning, his parking space was empty. His car was towed. Did we win? Yessiree!

Translation

We won because the warrior misdescribed the place of occurrence, not because our client couldn’t see the Taxi Relief Stand way in the distance.

Be warned, there only has to be one parking sign anywhere on the entire block. If the arrow on the parking sign points to your parking space, you’re toast. It matters not that:

• It’s dark out
• It’s raining cats and dogs
• You are disabled
• You are just plain tired

You’re going to lose the fight.

Tip: Raise all meritorious defenses. If you have more than one “winning” defense, raise ’em all.

I recommend that you tell a story and include some information that may not rise to the level of a winning defense, but make help you persuade a judge to dismiss the parking ticket. For example, in this case, I told the judge that our client parked his car at 11:30 p.m. and looked up and down the block for a parking sign. I accompanied our story with the above exhibit.

While it wasn’t a defense, the story and picture demonstrated that no one would have seen the taxi relief stand sign (and our client’s car was towed when he parked in front of #319). I’m convinced it helped us persuade the judge to dismiss the parking ticket for a misdescribed place of occurrence.

5.

Now we know why the mean streets of NYC are so noisy.

Commentary

Truth be told, how many of us never, ever got an NYC parking ticket? The guy in the back row with his hand up is 14 years old, so he doesn’t count.

I urge you not to:

• Engage in wishful thinking when you read a parking sign
• Think that two “No’s” make a “Yes.” A no is a no and they are cumulative
• Think a yes trumps a no. The stricter parking rules always wins
• Think your car can’t be regulated by more than one parking sign
• Think the closer sign trumps the parking sign way off in the distance. Closer only counts in horseshoes

Park safely.