New York City – No Parking, Even When Sign Is Snow-Covered

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    Corey Kilgannon/The New York Times Mother Nature’s Wite-Out, hard at work on parking signs on Columbus Avenue Wednesday.New York City – The snow that blanketed the city also left many street parking signs under a layer of white, obliterating the various regulations. This caused confusion among drivers and left them wondering whether the city could enforce rules that were impossible for motorists to discern.

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    “If we can’t read the parking signs, do we have to obey them?” Danilo Barredo, a doorman at the Pierre Hotel on Fifth Avenue, wondered Wednesday afternoon as he hailed cabs for guests.

    The curbside stretch outside the hotel is a no-standing zone, except for trucks loading or unloading. But Mr. Barredo was advising guests Wednesday that they were probably safe parking there temporarily, since the sign was unreadable, like many signs, particularly along the avenues in Manhattan, where parking is usually scarce (and expensive if one is caught doing it illegally).

    The answer, Mr. Barredo, is that the rules remain in force, at least in theory.

    A spokesman for the city’s Department of Transportation, which maintains the signs, said that the posted regulations must be observed, and that motorists could challenge a summons by pleading not guilty and by providing documentation, including, presumably, photos like the one above.

    To be sure, finding a legal parking place in Manhattan on Wednesday was hardly the Olympic-level sport it usually is. On a day when few drivers ventured in from out of town, open spots were abundant — even right in front of the American Museum of Natural History, for example.

    And it was impossible, during a reporter’s canvassing of many blocks, to find a ticket upon any car parked in meter zones on Wednesday, even those blanketed in snow that seemed to have been parked there all day.

    Still, the city was not about to publicly abdicate its power to at least try to enforce the regulations.

    “I think all tickets should be voided until you can read the signs,” said Homer Panteloglou, 24, a manager of West Side Market on Broadway and 75th Street. He said he parked his vehicle on a section of Broadway with Muni-Meter parking, paid no meter and received no summons.

    “I saw they weren’t giving tickets today, and I just left my car there,” he said. “It’s a free parking day.”


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    29 Comments
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    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Drivers should be expected to know what the parking signs say or they should brush the snow off the sign to read them if they are uncertain. Snow is now excuse for not complying with the parking rules.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    A law is a law. Its not the sign that makes the law. It is the sign that is “nice enough” to notify us of the law. The law should apply whether the sign is readable or not. Most laws in society apply without any signs altogether, such as “do not steal” “do not kill”, etc. Can a murderer plead innocence because “there was no sign that I shouldn’t kill?!”. Kudos to NYC parking enforcement for squashing a ridiculous theory that the rules do not apply simply because it was covered with snow.

    crazy people
    crazy people
    14 years ago

    parking laws are not something you have to know without signs. so if it snows you can’t park anywhere? dumb-bells!

    AuthenticSatmar
    AuthenticSatmar
    14 years ago

    The law states that if there is no sign, if its altered, or blocked then the rules it says are invalid, unless there is another sign on the block, and that is then the rule.

    nathan
    nathan
    14 years ago

    reply to number 2….I have to beg to differ, its the sign that makes law as if there is no sign you are allowed to park there, ie if someone would take the sign down and then you park there and if you would get a ticket and take a pic, you would get it dismissed. now the same thing with a fire hydrant, the only reason why you cant park there is bc the hydrant is there, without the hydrant you can park there.

    well i think you get the point …

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    if a sign is missing, or really obstructed by a tree so that you can’t see it, it makes sense as a defense.

    However, a sign covered by snow is a very weak defense.

    #1, you see the sign there, you just can’t read it. This is funamentally different from a missing sign or a sign that is obstructed so you dont know its there.
    #2. if you take a picture of it right when you park, you obviously could have wiped it off as well
    #3. if you don’t take a picture in advance, you are risking it becoming “unobstructed” right aftre you leave and having no proof.

    hence, anyone who relies on being able to park because of a snow covered sign, is an idiot and deserves a bigger penalty than normal to try and cure them of their idiocy 🙂

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    unlike all other laws in the USA parking violators are presumed guilty, instead of innocent. bottom line, if the guys need to make their quota at the end of the month they will send out the ticketing agents, snow or no snow.
    so snowstorms at end of month be careful. this one was in the beginning, so we were ok.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Whatever applies to the rest of the civilized world, doesn’t apply in NYC. It is the land of the GOTCHA vulture. Wherever you may think there is a 1% chance of you being permittes to do something, assume it isn’t and you will eaten alive to pay some ridiculous fine that in the judgement of some brainless monkey couldn’t justify by some reason that a possible violator shouldn’t be given the benefit of the doubt. This city has gone nuts, and ruled by nuts.

    Defending #2
    Defending #2
    14 years ago

    You commentators are bananas! #2 is 100% right! The law owes you no explanations whatsoever. When you buy a house – do you search title beforehand to make sure its clean? The same way – before you park 5000 lbs of metal on NYC public property – do some basic due diligence, yes, and research, to make sure that the parking spot is okay. What’s so terrible with making a call to the NYC Dept of Transportation? Simply put, signs are for idiots period! Yes, for murderers that need the sign that tells them “thou shalt not Kill”. To expect a SIGN for every narish law is just an excuse for complete laziness, in my humble opinion. LeChaim Yidden!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    from the comments that are here proclaiming that snow covered signs are not a reason to avoid a parking ticket ,those people have never tried to park in the city ever, every block has a different sign for a different rule, on the sign,no parking for commercial vehicles only, one is a no standing all day, another is no parking part of the day, and others just no parking for street cleaning , or muni meter part of the day or the full day, so how are we to know which law applies to which block and don’t go comparing it to laws that we all know about like parking in bp which is basically and mostly all the same, and still some have different rules.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    the replies remind me from back in the day when I scratched my forehead too understand “Oomar Ruvah or oomar Abay’ye” in the talmud. bottom line the city is always right even if it’s wrong.