Bogus curb tickets in Hoboken?
Is parking on a Hoboken curb considered a sidewalk?
NJ transportation statutes suggest that in general, curbs should be between 4-6 inches in height. And naturally, if you were parallel parking next to a properly installed curb, you’ll certainly know if you’ve driven into it.
There are so many “curbs” in Hoboken that are either worn out completely, or so level with the street you won’t even feel that you’ve driven over one. This happened to Hoboken411 reader Dana, and she got whacked with a $56 ticket. Read on to read her woes…
“This is in regards to a ticket I received last Wednesday afternoon. When I came home from work last week, I parallel parked between 3rd and 4th on Hudson Street and when I got out of my car, I noticed my right rear car tire was slightly on the curb—but since the curb is so slanted (as many curbs in Hoboken are) I didn’t think anything of it and went up to my apartment. However, when I returned about 2 hours later to head to a rehearsal dinner, there was a parking ticket on my windshield and the $56 offense was “illegally parking on the sidewalk.” I’ll gladly admit when I’m wrong, however, I feel this ticket is completely bogus. First of all, I wasn’t parked on the “sidewalk” and second of all, I wasn’t obstructing pedestrian traffic whatsoever. I feel that this is just another way that Hoboken, Mayor Zimmer and the out-of-control HPU is robbing long-time residents of their money.
I wanted to contact you so you could make other residents aware that HPU is going around ticketing people for this and wanted to see if this has happened to anyone else. I also wanted to know if it is in fact “illegal” if one tire is just slightly on a curb that is slanted in the first place. Has this happened to anyone else? Should I attempt to fight the ticket?”
411 note: I guess the question at hand is – where does the “sidewalk” end?
One would think it ends exactly where the curb starts, since NJ law specifies the curb as a completely separate entity to sidewalk.
(And the photo above wasn’t Dana’s car – it was a similarly parked car I found after receiving her email… This car, however – didn’t receive a ticket because they had “LE” Law Enforcement plates…)
Hoboken NJ
22 Responses to ** Bogus curb tickets in Hoboken? **
August 9th, 2012 |
If the HPU employees have quotas, why aren’t they just standing outside Benny Tudino’s and handing out tickets for double parking? The entire block is double parked, bringing Washington St to a near standstill.
Loved the girl yesterday morning at 8:30 who double parked her little SUV outside of Starbucks on Washington so she would not have to walk. Half the block was open for parking but it would have meant walking 30 feet. Instead someone in Starbucks had to wait for her lazy a$$ to get her coffee and move her car.
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August 9th, 2012 |
I’m assuming that’s a rhetorical question, but I’ll venture a couple thoughts.. 1) double parking makes the street safer for jaywalking pedestrians by slowing down traffic, 2) keeping business healthy and commerce flowing is more important than alleviating occasional personal annoyances.. I think in a way those new meters enhance the double-parking problem, as in your SBUX example.
In response to briank who said:
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