NY1 For You: Beating The Parking Game, Part 2
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During these tough economic times, many New Yorkers say their wallets are feeling the pinch of parking tickets now more than ever. NY1's Susan Jhun filed the following "NY1 For You" report and offers up some tips on how to beat the parking ticket game.Fighting parking tickets is a drain on your time and energy – and one company is banking on that.
“We ask for half of the amount of the total fine and we guarantee that if the ticket is not dismissed or reduced once you go through our standard process, we will not only refund the deposit but pay you an additional $10 for going through the entire process,” says ParkingTicket.com President Glen Bolofsky. “Our staff includes retired judges of the New York City Parking Violation Bureau; retired police officers and traffic agents.”
The company has been in business since 2001 and advertises that 70 percent of all tickets they fight either get dismissed or reduced. Bolofsky says it's no gimmick and their clients must be in the right and have proof of it.
It's important to note that everything parkingticket.com offers, you can do on your own, but Bolofsky says unfortunately most New Yorkers don't bother.
“The reason the city is issuing so many parking tickets is because more than 95 percent of the public does not take the time to contest their ticket. If you just take a minute and mail in your dismal request imagine there's approximately 40,000 to 50,000 new parking tickets issued everyday. If all 40,000 people contested their ticket it would grind the system to a halt and they would find that it's not profitable to issue what I call frivolous tickets,” says Bolofsky.
They may be frivolous in nature, but not when it comes to cost.
“Some of the stuff that really has upset me over the last couple of years has been when my maybe the last half of a foot of my car is basically into a pedestrian white line having nothing to do with anything and getting a ticket for that,” said one New Yorker.
“People are very upset about that cause the curb cuts are placed in inconspicuous places, people don't see them, they're not signed, there's no signage and there's no markings on them,” says Bolofsky.
It’s just one of countless unfair parking traps Bolofsky says his company fights. Whether you decide to hire someone to fight your parking ticket or do it yourself, retired New York City parking ticket judge Haskell Nussbaum says just take action.
“It almost always pays to at least mail in a response of a ‘not guilty’ so that you can at least get that offer of reduction,” says Nussbaum.
If you'd like "NY1 For You" to look into a problem, call our 24-hour helpline at 212-379-3599 or send an email to ny1foryou@ny1.com.