(Disclaimer, if you've already read my Facebook post this morning, you might just want to pass on this one, unless you want the full story, unabridged. (It's a bit funnier!))
Amanda and I were on our way home on my birthday from dinner and drinks when I notice a ticket on the windshield of our car. I grabbed it off the windshield and took a look. It was a citation for parking in a restricted construction zone.
Okay, so yes, they are working on the train trestle across the street from my apartment. And yes, they often block off a lot of street side parking because of said construction. They usually throw out a bunch of orange barrels where they will be blocking parking and put out signs on when they will need that street cleared. That said, I actually moved my car to the spot where I got the ticket because I was in one of the construction spots originally. There were three other cars along with mine that were wrongly ticketed. I took pictures of everything around my car to prove that there were no signs anywhere regarding parking in those places.
I then went online to dispute the ticket and found out that I had to wait a week before the ticket processed into the system! But, I had to dispute the ticket within 30 days of getting it or I would get a late fee. Not really that big of a deal, but when a quarter of your time is taken away from you, that's some bullshit!
After much cussing and realizing I could do nothing, I let it go. I will revisit in a week.
Then this morning I got up to let Abigail and Red out. As I stood there with two leashes in my hand and urine running down the sidewalk, I looked up to realize my car wasn't where I parked it. See, I moved my car the previous day after receiving the ticket so I wouldn't get another one. I parked it right past a section that was barreled off for construction...apparently that wasn't a good place either, even though there was nothing telling me not to park there!
After picking up a small mound of poop off of the sidewalk, I returned to my apartment...pissed as fuck!! After a stomping rant full of expletives, I went online to find out where my car had gone. I went on the NYC.gov site and put my plate number in...nothing. I tried again...nothing. So I called and they put it into the system...nothing. I told them about the construction and they said it was possible they "relocated" my vehicle.
Tangent: WHAT THE FUCK!!?? Back where I'm from, if a tow truck picks up your car, you have to pay dearly to get it back! Even if you catch them before they drive away, you have to pay! I have NEVER heard of a tow truck relocating a vehicle to a spot that is more convenient to the people who had it towed.
Okay, I'm back now. I was told to contact the NYPD precinct that would have been responsible for the tow. The woman was nice enough to connect me. Nobody answered, so I went out on foot to walk a few blocks to see if I could find it. I walked down to 2nd Ave, cut across to 11th Street, back up to 4th Ave and back down 10th Street to my apartment...nothing.
I went back upstairs and tried calling the precinct directly. They looked it up in the system and, yup, you guessed it...nothing! I explained that it was towed because of construction and she told me they may have relocated it. Okay, where would they have relocated it to? NOTHING!! I was actually told to walk around and look for it!! WHAT THE FUCK!!??
So I went back out on foot. I covered several more blocks before returning to my street...nothing. I decided to ask one of the construction workers who was directing traffic. He tells me they towed it to the Lowe's Home Improvement a few blocks from my place. Another guy walked up and asked where I had parked it. After I told him, he tried telling me there were signs out that told me not to park there. I told him I was parked past those signs and in my best I'm-really-pissed-off-don't-fuck-with-me-pseudo-Brooklyn voice I said, "I'm not stupid, I know where to park!" Then I walked off, somewhat defeated and very hopeful, in the direction of Lowe's.
And I found the car. Then I ended up looping block to block in search of a parking space. I found one a half-hour later. So after 2+ hours of that bullshit, I got to go home, eat breakfast, take a shower and then a nap. And as I complain about this ordeal, Amanda had to go to work and deal with 8+ hours of bullshit!
With Love,
Your NYC Scrub.
NYC sounds rad
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