New York, NY – Guide from a Judge to Beat Tickets

New York, NY – Never pay a parking ticket – without a fight.  
That’s the advice of former parking-violations Judge Haskell Nussbaum, who offers inside tips on getting summonses tossed out.  

Most New Yorkers don’t bother contesting tickets, which they tend to view as an infuriating but unavoidable cost of city life.
Nussbaum, 37, disagrees. “Every ticket is worth fighting,” he said.  Sob stories will get you nowhere, Nussbaum says. Technicalities are far more effective. “Argue some sort of legal or rational reason,” he said, and show up in person. 

Judges are told to be careful about the repercussions of their rulings. Our decisions always have to pass the ‘front page of the media, a senior judge told Nussbaum. “Every guilty verdict has the potential to embarrass us.”
Nussbaum also recommends to leave the ticket itself at home. That’s because the digital scans the city takes of each ticket are often too unreadable – grounds for instant dismissal.
And mistakes, such as incorrect plate numbers and locations, are common – and judges are often happy to help you find them, Nussbaum said. “Judges have a kind of incentive to find a defect, because we can get through so many more tickets in any given day if we only have to spend 20 seconds on a ticket that’s easily thrown out,” he said.  
Pleading poverty won’t help, Nussbaum said, because “the Parking Bureau’s attitude is that if you can’t afford to pay the fine, you shouldn’t be driving.”