NOTE: I don’t normally write personal stories here, but I think this may help someone. It might even get the NYPD to stop taking advantage of people. In its own way, this story is about government efficacy and information sharing, so it’s not totally out of place on my site.

I just moved to a Brooklyn brownstone. Right outside my door is a curb cut at an intersection. People park there. Then they get towed and fined about $400. But this shouldn’t happen, because this particular curb cut is at a T-intersection, and there is no crosswalk painted on the road. This makes it a legal parking spot. The law was changed last year. Look, see?

Maybe you found this post because you’re one of the poor schmucks who had their car towed. I wish you luck in recovering it. In the meantime, don’t worry: while you can’t recover the time you’ll spend at the tow pound, you can get your money back. But the burden of proof is on you, so you have to make your case effectively. I think I can help you do that.

My own car was towed from a similar spot in August. I put together a pretty detailed package of evidence to make my case. I’m posting it here for you to borrow. You’re free to copy and edit the letter to make it fit your own circumstances. The pictures, of course, will have to be original–unless you were towed from the exact same spot I was.

My package had five things: the ticket; a copy of my tow pound receipt; a copy of the DOT Web page I linked to above, with appropriate portions highlighted; a letter stating my case; and four pictures of the intersection in question.

1: The ticket. When I finally got to mine, it had been sitting on my windshield for three days and was completely illegible. However, the summons number was on the tow pound receipt, and that’s the only important piece of information you need here. You must still include the ticket with any response, however.

2: The tow pound receipt.

3: The DOT Web page. It felt so good to come home with my car, jump on the computer and read those words:

Parking is now permitted at those “T” Intersections where the adjacent (major) street is not marked with a crosswalk and not controlled by all-way stop signs or traffic signals, even if there is a curb cut at that location.

The only sweeter words were the ones that preceded them:

These locations have caused confusion in the past, as they were not clearly delineated as spaces for pedestrians or cars.

HA! So DOT acknowledges that it’s confusing, changes the law, and yet NYPD Traffic still enforces the old one. Print out a copy of this page. Highlight the paragraphs in the “Parking and Curb Cuts” section.

4: The letter. Download mine in Word format. Edit it to reflect your own situation and sign it.

5: The pictures. My pictures include some handiwork that, while not essential, will probably strengthen your case: I superimposed the DOT’s drawing on my photos to provide the traffic judge with some perspective. Also, I got closeup photos of the address, in order to prove that the intersection in the photograph is indeed the intersection at issue:

Image 1
Image 2
Image 3
Image 4

These enhancements require some decent photo editing skills. If you don’t have the right software, they can probably help you at a copy center. Enhancements or no, print your pictures in full color.

Now what?

Now that you have everything, what should you do with it? I’m not sure. I requested a hearing by mail, sent in my package, and waited. It’s two months later, and I’m still waiting. In the meantime, my fine has been raised $10 because I “failed to respond.” In other words, the people in the “Have people paid their tickets?” office received it (I have a certified mail receipt to prove it) but never told the people in the “Let’s fine people for not paying their tickets” office. If you go the hearing-by-mail route, prepare for this. Use certified mail.

In the course of sorting this out, I was told by city personnel that I shouldn’t bother with hearing-by-mail, and should just walk in to court in the morning. It’s low traffic and fast. I plan on doing this soon.

Good luck to everyone.

UPDATE: I went to the Brooklyn finance office on Joralemon to sort this out. After about 15 minutes of waiting, I saw an adjudicator. The job of the adjudicator is to offer you a reduced fine. If you refuse, you get to see a judge. I explained my case to the adjudicator and showed him pictures. He then typed a few keys on his computer and said with a smile, “That’s dismissed!” He was fully aware that T-intersections are legal spots.

The ticket was now taken care of, but he could not refund the tow fine. That requires a separate form (which you can find here) and a copy of your tow receipt.

I wrote to the Department of Transportation about this coordination failure. Their response:

We have been informed of instances where police officers or traffic enforcement agents may not be aware of the rules change and have issued summonses for parking at T-intersections where parking is now legal. We are working with the Police Department to ensure that all of its personnel are aware of the rules change, and with the Department of Finance, which adjudicates summonses, to ensure that summonses that may have been issued in error are properly adjudicated.

Ah, bureaucracy.