The Woodhaven Residents' Block Association announced a program to report out-of-state vehicles that have remained parked on a Woodhaven street for extended periods of time.
Woodhaven residents should call the WRBA if an automobile with license plates from outside New York has been parked on their street for more than a month. After gathering information from the caller, the WRBA will contact the appropriate agency from the vehicle's state to inform them of the vehicle's whereabouts and to ask them to investigate whether the vehicle is appropriately registered.
“Parking has historically been hard to find in Woodhaven," said WRBA Director Vance Barbour. "If these vehicles' owners are dodging local state regulations, and skipping out on paying fees to New York State like the rest of the community pays, we owe it to our residents to call it to the attention of the proper authorities.”
The announcement, which came at the WRBA's open meeting this past Saturday, is a response to many Woodhaven residents' complaints about out-of-state vehicles taking up parking spaces and potentially evading the law.
"This is just one initiative in what's sure to be an exciting year of progress," said Edward K. Wendell, the WRBA's new president.
The WRBA's office phone number is (718) 296-3735.
21 comments:
Wouldn't it be better to implement Residential Parking Permits? And maybe market-based parking meter rates? I think those would be more effective.
Auto owners who register their vehicles in other states are committing insurance fraud, plain and simple.
It gets dicey when people shuttle between two nearby states though. A friend, Scranton native, had her entire family in Pennsylvania and her registration there as well.
She regularly returned to Pennsylvania but had moved to New York City. Because she did not know that she had to change her registration within so many days she received tons of tickets and eventually had her car towed in front of the school where she worked.
I wonder whether she would have to register and re-register repeatedly if she only spend a few months in each location.
Well Maybe....I have my car registered in CT but live with my GF here...the car sits for weeks on end at my parents house because there is no place to park it here....think of it as an emergency or fun car to have....it really is cheaper then renting a car once or twice a month to me.
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Auto owners who register their vehicles in other states are committing insurance fraud, plain and simple.
She regularly returned to Pennsylvania but had moved to New York City. Because she did not know that she had to change her registration within so many days she received tons of tickets and eventually had her car towed in front of the school where she worked.
The "tons of tickets" should have tipped her off.
No doubt my friend was reckless, but ticketing and towing the cars of poorly-paid Catholic schoolteachers is not the way to wealth for the city nor is it a way to retain talent either.
She's now in Delaware where she's much happier and better off and there's an open spot in Washington Heights, right across from the drug dealers.
Everyone should report out-of-state vechicles that are continually parked on their streets. It is insurance fraud. As for travelling between 2 states, drivers should register their car in one state, but pay a fee to the other state and be issued a sticker. This way, the police would see that they are legitimate and wouldn't have to need to ticket an out-of-state vehicle if it had a sticker in the window.
"No doubt my friend was reckless, but ticketing and towing the cars of poorly-paid Catholic schoolteachers is not the way to wealth for the city nor is it a way to retain talent either."
Brilliant logic!
"This way, the police would see that they are legitimate and wouldn't have to need to ticket an out-of-state vehicle if it had a sticker in the window."
The police don't ticket out-of-state vehicles for simply being out-of-state! And while you may travel frequently from one place to another, a person can have only one legal residence. So your driver's license, auto registration and primary house for tax purposes and voter's reg should all match up. You can't have it both ways. The best part of not telling lies is not having to remember the lies you've told.
If she had a legal residence in Pennsylvania, but was in New York for more than 30 days, I think she has to still register the car in New York.
So what do you do when you return to PA?
What a bunch of rats!! LIVE AND LET LIVE!!!!!
I don't understand the point of this for two reasons:
Either, A) they are local residents with out of state plates who will still take the parking but with correct NY plates or B) They are transients such as repairmen or visitors who have every right to park with their out-of-state plates.
How does this harrassment increase parking in the area and what happens when the police are busy ticketing out-of-state vehicles instead of catching murderers?
Out of state enforcement is like shooting fish in a barrel. I don't know why the NYPD sends their brownie gestapo out to try to entrap law abiding drivers. Instead, they should go after these folks.
Oh God, not the old "cops have better things to do" mentality...
Addressing quality of life concerns is part of the NYPD's job. There is a whole section of the NYPD dedicated solely to traffic enforcement. They're called "brownies". Transients and visitors shouldn't be seen parking in the same area for a month if they indeed are "just visiting". I generally don't hire Wyoming or Carolina repairmen to fix things at my house, do you? Every out of state plate registered illegally means less money going to THIS state which we live in. Which means more taxes for us.
Kapish?
My name is Edward Wendell -- I'm a long-time reader and fan of Queens Crap and I was quoted in the article. Heh... I was nearly afraid to check out the comments section :-)
I didn't do the best job of relaying our concerns in the NY Daily News interview. This is all new to me and I'm somewhat a novice at being interviewed, but I'm learning. Our interest is two-fold. One, we're interested in the vehicles that have been sitting in the same spot for ages. We have cars that are parked on the street in the same spot for months -- and in a few cases, years. There's one family that have had a car with 2 flat tires, with Maine plates, parked in front of their house for almost 2 years. Their complaints have gone nowhere and so they came to us with their problem -- our first step was to draw attention to the problem (done) and our next step is to address the problem.
Our other concern is the insurance. Other states, such as NC, have less stringent insurance requirements meaning that if you are involved in an accident with them, and the damage is substantial, the driver may not have enough insurance to cover you. And if the insurance company discovers that the person was committing insurance fraud, they may deny the claim altogether, leaving you in a legal quagmire.
We're also hoping that some of the homeowners that are doing this to save a few bucks, will learn about this issue, and realize that they are putting their homes at risk should they get into a major accident and have their insurance deny them coverage because of fraud.
Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated --
Edward K. Wendell
President
Woodhaven Residents' Block Association
www.projectwoodhaven.com
Thanks for the clarification Wendall. Personally, I've given up having a car in New York entirely due to such things as having cops erect no parking signs around my car after I've parked or ticketing me between the time I parked and the time to walk to the meter to pay.
Cars with out of state plates sitting for months should be checked out for totally different reasons: They may be stolen.
I have personally witnessed cars with ticket after ticket when their registration was in full sight without the cops ever contacting the owner. In one instance I found the victim myself blocks from where the car was abandoned.
Perhaps the greater issue is stolen cars that can be used in crimes such as bank robbery or "hits."
"I've given up having a car in New York entirely due to such things as having cops erect no parking signs around my car "
I was on the street, waiting to be interviewed by WPIX, and a resident pointed out a street where all the signs are faded. People been parking there for years, suddenly they got ticketed, and when they spoke to the agent they were cited different parking rules than were supposedly on the original sign. We're going down there with our camera this morning to snoop around, draw attention to the problem, maybe it'll help these folks fight the tickets.
PS We were hoping to raise awareness to this issue and on that point, we've succeeded -- we've also heard from 2 other civic groups looking to do something similar.
Edward K. Wendell
President
Woodhaven Residents' Block Association
www.projectwoodhaven.com
How about all the seniors that register their cars in Florida? They only live there for 2 or 3 months out of the year. Shouldn't their cars be registered to their permanent residence in the state in which they pay taxes?
I'm so sick of stupid excuses from people who illegally park here and people who illegally rent out their basements and attics, leaving the law abiding citizens with no place to park. Either follow the rules or get out!
We have this problem in my neighborhood too. So,If a car has plates from another state and you know it is being illegally registered, then what? Who do you contact? Will the NYC Dept of Finance or the NY State Tax Dept investigate them?
Better watch out:) DAMN RIGHT I'M GONNA REPORT YOU:)
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