New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
The parking trap
By PETE DONOHUE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, May 11th, 2004

Update: The Daily News gets action! Mad meter's gone, and here's how your tix can go the same way!
It's meter madness.

Park your car at a certain meter in Brooklyn and you're almost guaranteed to get a $115 ticket.

The misplaced meter on 12th St. in Park Slope was installed too close to a fire hydrant - so all but the smallest of cars, like the diminutive Mini Cooper, would be automatically parked illegally.

So New Yorkers unlucky enough to park their cars at the spot - even those who dutifully pump quarters into the meter - often find a summons waiting for them.

"They are robbing me," said Bob Restaino, 64, who got a ticket in January. "This is a disgrace. I put money in the meter, went to lunch and got a ticket. I was parked legally."

State law requires that cars be parked at least 15 feet from a hydrant. The meter, at the rear of the space, is 27 feet, 5 inches from the hydrant, leaving a tiny space of 12 feet, 5inches.

That's not even big enough for a 2004 Volkswagen Beetle, which comes in at a foot too long. Don't even think about a Ford Taurus - that's about 4 feet too long.

City officials late yesterday could not say how long the meter has been at 12th St., by Fifth Ave., but one merchant guessed about two years.

"It's ridiculous," said George Akopoulos, 47, co-owner of a nearby fast-food restaurant. "They should either get rid of the meter, and have no parking, or stop giving tickets."

Akopoulos got whacked with a ticket about a month ago. He ponied up the fine rather than try and fight it out with the Parking Violations Bureau.

"I didn't think I could win," he said.

Armed with photographs, Hector Rodriguez, 52, owner of the Azena jewelry store across the street, got a ticket about a year ago. He eventually persuaded a judge to dismiss it.

"They gave me a hard time, though," he said. "The judge said I didn't have enough proof, but I was persistent."

Restaino, a retired iron worker, confronted a pair of traffic enforcement agents after discovering his ticket. One said she couldn't help. Another told him to "'Go talk to [Mayor] Bloomberg,'" Restaino said.

He pleaded not guilty by mail, sending in a letter of explanation and photographs of his car parked in the spot. An administrative law judge ruled against him late last month. He spent three hours at the Parking Violations Bureau yesterday only to be told to pay the fine, and then file an appeal.

His summons accused him of parking his vehicle within 5 feet of the hydrant. His photos indicate he was about 13 feet away.

A police traffic enforcement agent interviewed near the meter yesterday said she knew drivers were in a "Catch-22" situation, and said she doesn't write a summons unless a car is deep into the 15-foot hydrant zone.

When the Daily News alerted the city Transportation Department about the meter mess, the DOT ordered an immediate inspection yesterday.

After some quick measurements, DOT officials said they would replace the meter with a no standing sign - adding that anyone with an active summons at that location may be able to get it dismissed.

"We realize there was an error made and the meter was improperly placed too close to the hydrant," DOT spokesman Tom Cocola said. "We thank the Daily News for calling this to our attention."

News gets action!

Until Tuesday morning, a parking meter on 12th St. in Brooklyn was so close to a fire hydrant that parking there meant risking a $115 ticket.

The meter was removed after the Daily News ran a story about it.

“We took the meter out,” said Tom Cocola, a spokesman for the city Department of Transportation. “We try to listen to the public.”

Cocola said anyone who got a ticket at the meter should plead innocent and mail a copy of the Daily News story with the ticket.

“I think they’ll be successful,” he said.