47th Road (btw. 11th Street and Jackson Ave.)
May 10, 2013 By Christian Murray
Tobi Kahn, a Long Island City resident, parked his car in a perfectly legal spot on 47th Road on Sunday, April 28—only to find he had a ticket when he returned to his car the very next day.
Kahn had parked his car along 47th Road, between 11th Street and Jackson Avenue, for years. However, unbeknownst to him, the city had changed the parking signs that night without warning. His public parking space had suddenly been re-designated: “No Parking Except Authorized Vehicles 7AM-7PM Monday through Friday.”
Kahn said that seven cars were ticketed that day. All of the owners of those vehicles along that strip were unaware that the Department of Transportation was switching the parking rules.
Sign change without notice
“The whole thing was really creepy,” Kahn said. “Why didn’t they not mention it to anyone?”
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, who represents LIC, is working with some of the victims to see if he can help them avoid having to pay fines that are about $100.
However, he said, he continues to advocate for legislation that would combat instances like these that have emerged all over the city—and in Long Island City before.
Van Bramer introduced legislation in May 2011 that would require the city to provide 72 hours notice before the effective date of a street sign change. He has said that the Department of Transportation opposes the law since the agency would have to pay its staff to go out and notify the public.
A public hearing was held before the New York City Council Transportation Committee in December and groups such as AAA of New York supported it.
Van Bramer is hopeful that the city council will vote on it and that it will be passed. His office said that incidents such as these highlight the need for the legislation.
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5 Comments
The rules down by Center Blvd. are particularly unclear and changing. I got a ticket down there where there was no sign at all and fought it w/pictures (wide and tight shots) showing there were no signs at all there to warn there was no parking (even though other cars were parked there). They wrote me back and told me I was still guilty with no explanation and told me I needed to pay the fine. It’s outright robbery to fine people for their mistake of not erecting clear signs where there need to be.
On Borden and Vernon…there are meters…they have out grown that…the area of Vernon & 50th are reserved for Marked Police Vehicles……Im sure if you were to visit the block where the change has been made..You will find more than half the vehicles with police shields in the windshield…There was a time when police were required to reside in the 5 boros…now a lot of them have moved to Long Island and Orange county……public transportation is no longer an option for them……
First of all, pay attention to what the story is about and look at the picture, where it says “NY state vehicle” , the police department works for the City not the state and is located at 50th ave off vernon , not 47th road, idiot
Two separate issues….Common sense states tickets should not have been issued…. Cleaning is not the issue…The area parking has always been dominated by 108 police parking their private vehicles in the area…..
It’s good that VanBramer is doing this.
Now maybe he can get his cohorts at the Community Board to stop the ASP movement. It is just not necessary.
Instead he should be encouraging people to be responsible for their own sidewalks and curbsides instead of getting them permits to close down streets for cleaning, which could be done without closing the street.
I am curious as to why that block because it’s really not dirty.
It’s nothing more than a show for attention.