What’s up with the tickets?
Yesterday I got 3 parking tickets. I got a new motor bike so Fred could inherit the Vespa and I could get something smaller and better suited to me. The Vespa was just a tad too heavy and big.
I got a ticket for parking on the sidewalk, which was close up to the house we are renting in the West Village. In essence, it was parked on my property. Not paying that ticket. Also, got two tickets for not having the inspection sticker. If the cop had checked their handheld, they would find out that through the license plate number that it was a new bike and I had a temporary inspection sticker (a piece of paper). NY sends out the inspection stick in a week and then it will be placed on the bike.
Now I have to write a letter with the tickets to deal with it. I am not the only one. Giving tickets seem to be a big push this week. What’s the deal? I have seen more orange tickets around the city in the past day. Are they just writing them without looking or are they actually legit?
Comments (Archived):
No matter how entitled you may be, no city sidewalk belongs to you. It is NOT your property. I’ve parked on the street in NYC for several years without a single ticket because I read the signs and park legally. When I had no inspection sticker on my new car I parked in a garage. Get real. If you don’t want to collect tickets park legally. Until then, park in a garage or at least put a note on the bike.
I live in a surburban city where ticket giving is another form of revenue for the city. If we need to shop in Newton Centre most of the meters have a two hour limit. Literally, when I am at the hair salon, I run out with color on my hair and move the csr to another meter in the same parking lot because it takes more than 2 hours to get to be blond.
What kind of new bike did you get? I was discussing w/ Fred the merits and downsides of Chinese scooters.
Joanne, there’s a lot of discussion of this ticket blitz going on right now on our Forum:
http://www.nyscooterclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6456
Some good parking advice is there too:
http://www.nyscooterclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2849
There’s also a lot of information there for you, Ken, about what scooters to look at:
http://www.nyscooterclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4690
The biggest problem with most of the cheap Chinese scooters is that the quality can be poor and few in NYC are willing to work on them. Service is as important as MSRP. A good middle ground is the Genuine Buddy, sold at Brooklynbretta. Great Taiwanese scooter at a good price, spotless service record. If you don’t want a Vespa, Kymco and Yamaha are also good brands.
Jonathan
Co-Founder, New York Scooter Club