Restaurant Valets Caught Parking Cars In Street Spaces

...But not in metered parking spaces!

Unless you have a magical illegal parking placard, parking in this city sucks big time. It's bad enough that you're competing with thousands of other cranky drivers for metered spaces, but it turns out you may also be competing with restaurant valets in certain areas!

The Daily News discovered that valets at the Greek restaurant Telly's Taverna on 23rd Ave. in Astoria have been illegally using street parking spaces for its private valet service. Local residents say that the restaurant's valets use orange cones to reserve metered parking spots. The News also spotted another taverna close by, Stamatis Restaurant, doing the same thing. While many residents have been complaining for the last six month, some don't see the problem: "They are only doing it on Friday and Saturday night. These are small businesses and hardworking people. All the restaurants do it. It's really not a big deal," said one resident, who pointedly did not want to give his name.

That resident probably has never circled around the same four blocks for over an hour on a bitterly dark Friday night. This isn't the first cone-related parking rip off we've heard of: over the summer, Arnold Diaz caught one parking lot using DOT and DEP cones to block off metered spaces in order to sell the spots to desperate motorists. Have you seen any other instances of valets parking cars illegally on the street? Let us know so we can shame shame shame them!

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

By Ben Yakas in News on October 21, 2010 3:45 PM

Comments [rss]

That's What She Said

My local Central Parking garage likes to park its cars on the street. 406 15th Street (btwn 7th and 8th Aves) in Brooklyn. More money for them, less spots for us. Fuckers.

whitecastlerock

Oh the indignity of parking a car on the street! If there wasn't valet service, those same cars would probably be parked on the street, in the exact some spaces now being coveted by these rogue valets. More pointless drivel from Gothamist...

sj

You know, you can just drive right over those cones...

Geoelh

Yo WTF is "bitterly dark"? The dreaded moonless night in the midst of a ConEd catastrophuck?

RevWaldo

That's nothing. In my Brooklyn nabe there was an indie car rental agency (now thankfully out of business) that treated the streets like their own personal parking lot.

Kevin

also popular around Yankee stadium. even worse because they are charging you $15-20 for parking.

Manitoba

This is pretty common in restaurant-heavy neighborhoods in lots of cities, not just New York, especially in areas where people drive. It's pretty common in LA and DC, valets drivers parking in neighborhood spots, running all over the place to find cars. Sometimes they make deals with the local lots/garages. Maybe the garage charges $25, the valet charges $20-$30, but the garage will charge the valet $10 if he brings in a lot of volume.

The cone thing, though, is pretty sleazy, but if residents know this is happening, they can just get out and move them. I've seen homeowners in C. Gardens do this in front of their homes, but I never had the ballz to move the cones because of who the homeowner was, ifyouknowhatimean. Don't want Rosanna Scotto shiving me.

Eric

They also do this with Cavo, although they don't block off the spots with cones. Late at night you'll see the valets running all over the neighborhood trying to find the cars they parked on the street. Really makes parking hell coming home late on a friday or saturday night.

jaycjay

"That resident probably has never circled around the same four blocks for over an hour on a bitterly dark Friday night"

That resident probably owns an Astoria restaurant.

But I agree, it's not a big deal. Move the cones, or just back over them.