Baffled: Parked "Wrong Way" on One Way Street

[ufojoe]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? New York

I live in Flushing, Queens...

Had my car parked on a two-way street. It was parked the right way.

Went away for the weekend for work. Came back, the street had been changed to a one-way street and my car was now facing the wrong way.

I had a ticket for parking the wrong way on a one-way street!

No notices were given in my neighborhood that they were going to make these changes.

I fought the ticket online. I lost. Don't see how. But I did.

The same thing happened in the Bronx during that week but in that situation, it was over ten cars that had been ticketed. They got a local TV station involved (Channel 7) and all the tickets were dropped by the city.

Channel 7 wants nothing to do with my case. I'm only one person. City has ignored my email.

So, can I still fight this ticket? Once found guilty, is that the end or is there still a way to fight it? It may cost me more to fight this but I may do it on principle. Still can't believe the stupidity involved...

Thanks,

Joe

 

[seniorjudge]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? New York

I live in Flushing, Queens...

Had my car parked on a two-way street. It was parked the right way.

Went away for the weekend for work. Came back, the street had been changed to a one-way street and my car was now facing the wrong way.

I had a ticket for parking the wrong way on a one-way street!

No notices were given in my neighborhood that they were going to make these changes.

I fought the ticket online. I lost. Don't see how. But I did.

The same thing happened in the Bronx during that week but in that situation, it was over ten cars that had been ticketed. They got a local TV station involved (Channel 7) and all the tickets were dropped by the city.

Channel 7 wants nothing to do with my case. I'm only one person. City has ignored my email.

So, can I still fight this ticket? Once found guilty, is that the end or is there still a way to fight it? It may cost me more to fight this but I may do it on principle. Still can't believe the stupidity involved...

Thanks,

Joe

Appeal your guilty verdict.

 

[ufojoe]

Just go down and argue the case? Or do I have to fill out paperwork for an appeal? It's not clear how to go about it.

Thanks for the response.

 

[seniorjudge]

Just go down and argue the case? Or do I have to fill out paperwork for an appeal? It's not clear how to go about it.

Thanks for the response.

I imagine all those answers are on the website you were talking about.

 

[wirry1422]

Yes, you can appeal the administrative ruling, however it will cost you some money. The way to do it is to file an appeal with the circuit court of Queens County. This will be similar to filing a civil law suit in small claims court. You do not need a lawyer. This will cost several hundred dollars to file. Contact the clerk of the circuit court for detailed information. Once you get a hearing, bring all the evidence you can, including affidavits from city dept of transportation showing date of change to one way street, proof that you were gone just for the weekend, try to obtain a copy or an internet printout of the channel seven story you spoke of, and explain that no notice as to the change to one-way was given by the city (such notice or grace period may be required according to city code or state law, so do some online research.) Once you win, the ticket will be dismissed and the judge will order the city to refund the court filing fee to you. However, you will not be reimbursed for inconvenience and lost work, sorry. In the unlikely event that you lose (unlikely considering the strength of your stated case), you will be on the hook for both the ticket and court costs. In the future, when you get a parking ticket, especially one that is a fairly easy win on your part, always always go to the in-person hearing to contest the ticket. Good luck.

 

[You Are Guilty]

Yes, you can appeal the administrative ruling, however it will cost you some money. The way to do it is to file an appeal with the circuit court of Queens County. This will be similar to filing a civil law suit in small claims court. You do not need a lawyer. This will cost several hundred dollars to file. Contact the clerk of the circuit court for detailed information. Once you get a hearing, bring all the evidence you can, including affidavits from city dept of transportation showing date of change to one way street, proof that you were gone just for the weekend, try to obtain a copy or an internet printout of the channel seven story you spoke of, and explain that no notice as to the change to one-way was given by the city (such notice or grace period may be required according to city code or state law, so do some online research.) Once you win, the ticket will be dismissed and the judge will order the city to refund the court filing fee to you. However, you will not be reimbursed for inconvenience and lost work, sorry. In the unlikely event that you lose (unlikely considering the strength of your stated case), you will be on the hook for both the ticket and court costs. In the future, when you get a parking ticket, especially one that is a fairly easy win on your part, always always go to the in-person hearing to contest the ticket. Good luck.

Sorry, but that's not even close to correct.

If you lose on the initial mail-in, you can only appeal it to the PVB Appeals Board. You have the option to do it by mail or in person, and I strongly recommend an in person hearing. The Appeals Board Hearing office is at 66 John St. The catch is you have to pay the fine before you can appeal. While you will get it back if you win, the City has now lost all incentive to listen to your case's merits.

Anyway, here's the Appeal form you'll need: http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/dof/pdf/appfrm.pdf

The only catch is you have a 30 day statute of limitations (from your prior guilty verdict) so don't wait too long or you're screwed. You can always file in the 30 days and request adjournment(s) of the hearing if you still need more time to collect the paperwork from the DOT.


Out of curiosity, what street was it? I used to live in Flushing.

 

[ufojoe]

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, I waited too long and my 30 days were up long ago. Oh well. Love and learn. And pay...

Thanks,

Joe

 

[ufojoe]

PS - It happened off of Kissena Blvd. just North of Booth Memorial. I live on 153rd st. off of Peck.

Within a mie of Queens College.

 

[wirry1422]

Okay, I stand corrected. The appeals process i previously stated holds true in 98.7% of US municipalities and counties, but some large cities, NYC obiously one of them, are given special "home-rule" powers under state-law, which allows them to drastically alter the appeals-flow process for infractions such as parking. A possible reason for this could be the fact that NYC spans several counties (a rather unique jurisdictional issue in the US) and therefore parking appeals had to be altered (just a theory). Cities with "home-rule" authority are treated almost as states unto themselves with vast power to alter state-law. I appreciate the other poster correcting my previous post. The appeals process i stated definitly applies to most municipal parking infractions (including in several large cities i have lived in), but it is obviosly not universal. BTW, NYC's parking appeals actually has one advantage, in that no court costs are required to appeal a parking infraction (aside from payment of the actual ticket), us midwesterners in Chicago aren't so lucky.

 

[You Are Guilty]

Okay, I stand corrected. The appeals process i previously stated holds true in 98.7% of US municipalities and counties, but some large cities, NYC obiously one of them, are given special "home-rule" powers under state-law, which allows them to drastically alter the appeals-flow process for infractions such as parking. A possible reason for this could be the fact that NYC spans several counties (a rather unique jurisdictional issue in the US) and therefore parking appeals had to be altered (just a theory). Cities with "home-rule" authority are treated almost as states unto themselves with vast power to alter state-law. I appreciate the other poster correcting my previous post. The appeals process i stated definitly applies to most municipal parking infractions (including in several large cities i have lived in), but it is obviosly not universal. BTW, NYC's parking appeals actually has one advantage, in that no court costs are required to appeal a parking infraction (aside from payment of the actual ticket), us midwesterners in Chicago aren't so lucky.

Since you did have it right for other cities, I'll let you in on another NYC secret.

Technically, if you are insane and have nothing better to do, you can appeal the Appeals Board finding to a real judge (via an Article 78 case to the local Civil Court). But given that current filing fees are somewhere in the neighborhood of 2-3x the most expensive parking ticket, not to mention the 6-8 months of litigation and attorneys fees that would result, I have never seen, nor even heard, of someone actually doing it.

Anyway, I'm familiar with the area - they did the same thing to the street that runs perpendicular just behind the hospital (past the south side of the park) a few years ago. But they gave warnings there ahead of time.