Why a Bunch of L.I.C. Parking Tickets Were Voided

It's bad enough when you get a parking ticket, but to get a parking ticket when your car is legally parked? The NYPD investigated a traffic officer who was ticketing legally parked cars in Long Island City, and officer Nivea Cloud resigned after being charged with "falsifying records, official misconduct, and filing false parking tickets." The Post's source says Cloud may have been ticketing the legally parked cars because "it was easier than going out to look for illegal parked cars where she was assigned." Ai. The tickets were voided, but we wonder if the problem only became clear when the drivers complained.

The IBO says it pays to fight your parking ticket, and here are some tips on how to do so. And if the NYPD tries to convince us that police officers don't totally have a quota of tickets to write, we're not buying it!

One of the many "wacky" signs available from the Department of Transportation

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on May 23, 2006 1:29 PM

Comments [rss]

CLM

Here's the thing: Illegally parked cars (and yes, delivery trucks) kill people, and traffic enforcement saves lives. The vast majority of fatal collisions between drivers and cyclists or pedestrians in this city involve one party or the other trying to get around an illegally double-parked car. If you find getting parking tickets inconvenient, maybe you should consider paying for a garage - or doing like most of us and getting around without a car. It's New York, people - do you REALLY need to drive everywhere?

bklynd

My fantasy on a ticketing accountability system: each precinct has to present its CB with a report on all the tickets written each quarter - where, when, for what. Then some poor slob has to meet with the community board and discuss whether the police are serving the community interests or not. The CB can somehow get the rep fired if they are not happy.

mike

Odd, because I could hand out tickets like candy in my 'hood, and they'd all be legal, because we are inundated with illegally operated cars.

mistergee

Jen,

The IBO link in your post says that it's better to fight a ticket in person, while the NYC Insider link says it's better to plead by mail...who to believe?

Ticket Love

More proof that cops jobs are really focused to produce revenue for the city.

Keep ticketing those UPS and FedEx trucks, because it really needs to be even more expensive to ship items than it already is.

Keep those revenue generating tickets flowing! Those pesky delivery trucks are such a nuisance, they actually have the nerve to bring stuff I bought, to my home. Evil bastards, keep ticketing them, they are an easy target. They almost always have to park somewhere they can be ticketed. Why work hard? I do and it sucks. lets make it easy on those poor officers, who can't seem to find any real crime.

Wow... that commands such respect.

The notion Police fight crime is laughable to me. Why? Because they really can't do anything unless a crime actually takes place.

So much easier to harass average people threaten and ticket them.

tien

i think they should bring brownies back. i kind of miss the brown uniforms and cars.

also, i think i've actually seen that sign - it's not just for amusement.

Meg

hehehe Officer Rain Cloud. What an asshole.

Shocked, shocked

What a surprise -- a brownie who was too lazy to work, and too dumb to realize she would be caught. I bet she's married to one of those mailmen who end up dumping half their deliveries under a bridge because they don't want to bother with them.

PS -- for those of you new to the city, "brownie" is a quaint old term for traffic cop, not a slur aimed at any particular group.

Tim N.

Nope, no quotas there, no sireee bob.

Ahh, what do you do when you've got to write fifty tickets a month and everyone OBEYS THE LAW? Dang those lower crime rates.

It is easier to beat a ticket now than it was in years past. I plead out every one I get, just on the off chance it will stick, and if you can provide enough digital photography to prove your case, you should be okay. Assuming you're patient... it will take forever. And as lies lies lies says, the system is stacked against you. But if you're right, stay with it... they won't make it easy, but you'll come out ahead in the end.

I've even won two on appeal... and on one of those got my tow fee back. That was a good day.

notillegally

ONLY thing is,

These cars were not illegally parked.

There is a quota system, only they call it performance standards.

famdoc

I am batting .500 fighting undeserved tickets (1 for 2). Each time, I have brought photographs, diagrams and other evidence. Each time, the ruling was up to the whimsy of the judge. Parking violations bureau judges are overworked, undermotivated and often half-asleep. One judge looked at my evidence, complimented it and voided the ticket for a completely different reason. Another judge looked at my evidence, denied its validity and ruled against me, challenging me to take another hour out of my day to appeal her decision.

K

quota or not, don't park illegally, and you shoudln't have a problem.

lies lies lies

Good luck fighting a ticket. The system is stacked against you. Maybe you can use the power of the internet to find others that were wrongly ticketed and show a pattern of abuse but the individual is going to get steamrolled.