Last Updated on May 20, 2016 by Lawrence Berezin

Illegal pedestrian ramp parking tickets are still being issued

Our friends and clients are reporting that parking ticket warriors and cops are continuing to issue illegal pedestrian ramp parking tickets for parking in front of  pedestrian ramps that are no longer illegal to block. Here’s the current state of the pedestrian ramp law as of December 2008, set forth on the NYC DOT website:

Parking is now permitted at those “T” Intersections where the adjacent (major) street is not marked with a crosswalk and not controlled by all-way stop signs or traffic signals, even if there is a curb cut at that location.

When two streets intersect but do not cross it is referred to as a “T” intersection. The top of the “T” is considered to be the major street and the stem of the “T” is the minor street. A curb cut is the area of a sidewalk, which has been lowered, or cut down, to facilitate access to the street.

Larry’s recommendations:

• If you are issued one of these bogus NYC parking tickets, please be sure to present the proper proof properly:
  • Photographs of the pedestrian ramp clearly showing the ramp’s location, which should match the place of occurrence entered on your parking ticket
  • Make sure your photograph(s) show the street signs so a parking ticket judge knows it is the ramp where your parking ticket was issued
  • Photographs showing there is no marked crosswalk;
  • No traffic signs regulating traffic
  • No traffic control devices regulating traffic
  • Present a copy of the law set forth on the DOT website, along with the website diagram

• You may wish to prepare a sign to hang in your window, or place on your dashboard containing a copy of the pedestrian ramp law from the DOT website with a headline, such as:

YOU AND I BOTH KNOW IT IS LEGAL TO PARK IN FRONT OF THIS PEDESTRIAN RAMP. I TRUST YOU WILL HONOR THE LAW YOU ARE SWORN TO ENFORCE

You can find the NYC_DOT on Twitter. If you are a victim of a bogus pedestrian ramp parking ticket, send a tweet to the NYC_DOT. We need your help to keep the pressure on the DOT to right this $165.00 wrong!