NYPD, Towing Lot Deny Holding Brooklynite's Car

The latest adventure of Brooklynite Jake Bronstein raises an interesting question. To start off, he was loaned a vehicle by a car company that he custom picked the design for (it includes pink dots, a detail that is important later on in the story). Put aside any problems you may have with the corporate shilling for a moment: the car is missing! Or is it? He explains:

The police said they didn’t tow it; their automated number said they didn’t tow it; hell, even my frequent and frantic calls to all of the city’s tow-lots all turned up the same response… “the NYPD does not have this car.” I found a meter-man who said that on occasion cars get towed. And sometimes, just sometimes, they wind up in the system with the wrong plate number. When that happens, you’re pretty much screwed because the city will say they don’t have the car… and because they won’t let you walk around the lots they tow them to, that’ll pretty much be the end of it. Forever.

Taking matters into his own hands, he headed to the Brooklyn Navy Yard towing lot with his girlfriend who managed to scale the brick wall and take one photo before the guards came running. In that photo? His pink-dotted car. The problem: the NYPD and the lot both say his car is not in their possession. During his last call this morning, after giving them the VIN#, plate number, and other assorted details, they told him they didn't have it and that "it would be impossible to take a picture of a car inside."

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By Jen Carlson in Arts & Entertainment on May 26, 2009 2:07 PM

Comments [rss]

JB-2009

I saw a pink polka-dotted Ford Fiesta parked in Park Slope a few days ago (pretty sure it was this weekend). It was a unique paint job. I think it was on 6th Ave near 9th St. The article does not say when Jake thinks it was towed. Is this story a self-promotion scam?? Perhaps I am falling for it by reporting where I saw the car.

Nick S

Also, when did marketing brome all about the person doing the marketing? Is there such thing as Gonzo Advertising now?

Nick S

Wait, so a dude that has made his career off viral marketing is given a car that is about to be introduced in America, and then by CRAAAZY circumstance, that car got towed, which then ignited this CRAAAAAZY story, which was then reposted around the interwebz? Sorry, I don't buy it.

He's a good writer, though.

hard times

it's sad when "attention whore" has become a legitimate profession...

the dude literally gets paid [well, his company gets funding, that is] for this stuff!!

spazedog00

This guys company does viral advertising. I think that is whats going on here.

barryap

There's more here than we're being told. If your car was gone, and the city said they hadn't tow it, wouldn't you assume it was stolen and report it as such? Why didn't that happen here?

ANGRYGOD11

It could be worse. A few years ago a driver was arrested for driving his own car, because NYPD records weren't up to date.

Tower18

This is doubly complicated by the fact that the Ford Fiesta does not exist in the United States yet.

jaycjay

"This is doubly complicated by the fact that the Ford Fiesta does not exist in the United States yet."

It isn't sold in the US. Clearly it does "exist" in the US. The pictures prove it.

On one of the linked pages, where he tells of Ford giving him the car, he mentions that there are only 140 of them in the US.

Huffy6241

Regardless, there should be a much better system for tracking what is on the lot so this situation does not happen.

I wonder how many cars are auctioned every year because owners are told their cars have not been towed and they report them stolen - and the cars with the wrong plates are then just declared "abandoned" by the NYPD?

jaycjay

"cars with the wrong plates are then just declared "abandoned" by the NYPD?"

In spite of the quoted traffic agent's comment, I can't believe that the plate number alone is what's used to track the cars. That would be an especially weak approach, because plates are easily stolen and swapped. The VIN is likely the primary piece of data used.

Of course, that doesn't mean that the VIN can't be entered incorrectly. On the other hand, fairly unsophisticated software could limit some errors, because the VIN has to a specific template (some of the characters have specific meanings; it's not just a random number).

r1b2

About 7 years back, I had a car towed from a spot that wasn't marked in anyway that would indicate no towing. I first reported the car stolen. It took time and effort to confirm it had been towed. I paid my money and got it back, but challenged the ticket. Surprisingly (or not) when I appeared before a judge, she discovered a discrepancy in the date on the ticket, blah blah, and case dismissed with my $$$ returned.

hotstepper

i can't help but respect Jake's testicular fortitude on this one and his girlfriend sounds pretty bad ass too.

Kiki

That just recently happened to me in the Bronx. After three days they finally got around to finding it.

Kiki

That just recently happened to me in the Bronx. After three days they finally got around to finding it.

Peter

Put aside any problems you may have with the corporate schilling for a moment

It's shilling, with no "c."

Unless you're talking about baseball or pre-Euro money in Austria.