NYC Parking Laws All Drivers Ought to Know About

Last Updated on February 27, 2018 by Lawrence Berezin

Proposed parking laws that are awaiting action by the NYC Council

I make it a habit to periodically check the proposed parking laws waiting for action by the NYC Council. It makes me furious every time I see a useful parking law being ignored. Here’s a link to the NYC Council legislation page where you can read about the proposed laws. The keyword I enter is, “parking.”

Here are some of the laws that I sincerely hope are passed and some that are in hospice and shouldn’t be overlooked.

Proposed parking laws shout out

[alert type=”info” icon-size=”normal”]1.A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to waiving parking violations when a parking sign is illegible[/alert]

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1. Chapter 1 of title 19 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 19-175.6 to read as follows:

§ 19-175.6 Illegible parking signs. a. Notwithstanding any rule or regulation to the contrary, when a notice of violation is issued to an owner of a vehicle for failure to observe a parking sign that is not sufficiently legible to an ordinarily observant person at the time and place of the alleged violation, such illegibility constitutes an affirmative defense to the notice of violation.

b. The affirmative defense of illegibility is provable through photographic or other suitable evidence as determined by the hearing officer, hearing examiner, or other appropriate adjudicatory authority.

§ 2. This local law takes effect immediately.

[Larry’s comment: This bill will make the Evil Empire’s current custom of dismissing parking tickets if a driver can prove the sign is unreadable or unobservable, mandatory, and provide a uniform standard to determine whether the sign is unreadable. There is now no uniform application of this defense. It’s totally up to each, individual judge.

I think it’s a great idea to make this custom thing the law of Parking Ticket Land, just as we did with the failure to display a muni-meter receipt (VC38) custom. Sadly, this excellent proposed law is in hospice care at the NYC Council].

[alert type=”info” icon-size=”normal”]2. A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the provision of advance notice of temporary changes to parking restrictions as a result of road repairs[/alert]

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1. Subdivision b of section 19-175.2 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as added by local law number 78 of the year 2009, is amended to read as follows:

b. Before the department makes temporary parking restriction changes to conduct road repairs, it shall post a notice, in the affected areas, of the effective date of such restrictions [as soon as practicable]at least 72 hours in advance. Such notice shall state that no notice of violations shall be issued for violations of such temporary parking restrictions and that if an owner’s motor vehicle is missing from the affected streets, the motor vehicle may have been towed and the motor vehicle owner should contact the local police precinct for information about the location of such motor vehicle.

§ 2. This local law takes effect 120 days after it becomes law.

[Larry’s comment: Compare the proposed law with the current law. The proposed law changes, “as soon as practicable” to “at least 72 hours in advance.” Will this change make a difference?]

b. Before the department makes temporary parking restriction changes to conduct road repairs, it shall post notice of the effective date of such restrictions as soon as practicable. Such notice shall state that no notice of violations shall be issued for violations of such temporary parking restrictions and that if an owner’s motor vehicle is missing from the affected streets, the motor vehicle may have been towed and the motor vehicle owner should contact the local police precinct for information about the location of such motor vehicle.

[alert type=”info” icon-size=”normal”]3.A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to removal of postings of temporary parking changes[/alert]

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1. Section 19-175.2 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended to add a new subdivision f to read as follows:

f. All postings of temporary parking restrictions required by this section or otherwise posted by the police department or any other agency shall be removed by the entity that placed such posting not more than twenty-four hours following the conclusion of the temporary parking restrictions.

§2.  This local law shall take effect immediately upon enactment.

[Larry’s comment: Good idea to end the confusion caused by the temporary parking restrictions].

[alert type=”info” icon-size=”normal”]4. A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to notification of changes to parking and traffic restrictions[/alert]

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1. Subdivision a of section 19-175.2 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended to read as follows:

§ 19-175.2 Notification of changes in parking restrictions. a. Following any permanent change in parking restrictions posted by the department, the department shall post a notice, in the affected areas, indicating the effective date of such change. Such notice shall contain the word “new” in capital letters, shall be on conventional signage and shall remain in place for at least 30 days. For purposes of this section, conventional signage is defined as a mounted metal sign. An owner of a motor vehicle parked in the affected areas who receives a notice of a parking violation that occurred within [five] seven days of posting of the notice of the parking restriction change shall have an affirmative defense that the vehicle of the owner was parked in compliance with the applicable parking restriction that was in effect prior to such change. Within one business day of making a permanent change in parking restrictions, such change will be reflected on the website containing parking restrictions as required by section 19-175.1 [of the code]. The department shall provide an option to receive email updates related to new parking restrictions on the email updates webpage on the department’s website.

[Larry’s comment: We are still struggling with a solution to new parking signs. But, I think the Department of Transportation is ignoring the real problem:

• A new parking sign is installed.
• A Warrior issues a parking ticket to an unsuspecting driver who didn’t notice the change within five days of the installation of the new sign.
• The driver has a right to fight the ticket but is required to prove the ticket was issued within five days of the installation of the new sign.
• The installation date of the new sign is nowhere to be found.
• The driver makes a FOIL request.
• The 30-days are about to expire before the FOIL request is honored.
• Ergo, the driver pays the ticket he shouldn’t have to pay.
• Three months later, the driver receives the response to his FOIL request, but it’s too late. 

Please, make the installation date readily available to the driving public!]

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5. A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the distance between parking signs

[/alert]

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1.  Subchapter 2 of chapter 1 of title 19 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended to add a new section 19-175.6 to read as follows:

§ 19-175.6 Distance between parking signs. On every block longer than 200 feet, the department shall post a sign indicating parking, standing or stopping regulations every 100 feet or less. For purposes of this section, “block” means a stretch of roadway that connects two intersections.

§2. This local law takes effect 90 days after it becomes law.

[Larry’s comment: Great proposed law. It is ridiculous to allow only one authorized parking sign on a block the length of a football field, especially in the snow, rain, sleet, and cold of an NYC winter and require a driver to walk the entire length of the block to find a parking sign that might regulate his parking space. Common sense proposed law that will probably end up in hospice rather than a parking law].

Commentary

Don’t let these valuable proposed laws just sit there, enact ’em.

How about taking a 30 second, three question quickie quiz? Double dare you!