Curb Cut: Parking Question
A little background: A doctor’s office at the end of my block (13th St and 7th ave in Park Slope) has a curb cut and garage. They haven’t used the garage in years and until recently people have parked in front of it regularly without a problem. Several weeks ago the doctor put up a…
A little background: A doctor’s office at the end of my block (13th St and 7th ave in Park Slope) has a curb cut and garage. They haven’t used the garage in years and until recently people have parked in front of it regularly without a problem. Several weeks ago the doctor put up a No Parking sign and began using the space in front of the driveway (on the street, not the actual garage itself) as parking for himself and his patients. Not sure that it matters, but I don’t think that the garage could actually hold a car.
Last night a police officer gave a ticket to a car parked in the spot and when I asked him about it he basically said ‘it’s this guy’s driveway, he can use it any way he wants’.
So I have 2 questions for the forum:
1. Can anyone with a legal curb cut legally use street parking in this way?
2. How do I find out if the curb cut is, indeed, legal?
Thanks in advance!
If there is a garage there, chances are it is legal. The illegal ones tend to be the ones with a car parked in front of the house of what used to be a fenced in area and some filler (asphalt or concrete) to ramp the curb not an actual cut. Either way, legal curb cuts are DOT approved, registered and can be verified. Lack of current or prior use doesn’t change that status either. If you don’t beleive that, then go ahead and park there. When you find your car ticketed and/or towed, there will be nothing you can do about it other than to pay up.
There’s one of these on PPW in front of the “Moveable Feast” caterers. They NEVER use the garage (I don’t think it is a garage, but part of their store) but have this nice fat parking space in front of it. Of course, they use 3 other parking spots on the block and leave their “driveway” clear.
2 points- #1 Are you sure it’s a legal driveway/curb-cut? Chances are it’s not. You still have the onus of fighting any ticket received but can put the wheels in motion to contest the legality of the curb-cut (DOB,DOT,etc.)If illegal, owner can be forced to eliminate the curb-cut. #2 Besides being issued a summons, the owner can have the vehicle towed once the summons is issued. He/she simply calls a designated tow company, they verify the summons issuance for blocked driveway and tow the vehicle. They then charge the vehicle owner for the service.
kidbklyn, it’s true that it’s legal, whether you believe it or not. and, see the above posts – the police will never bother to ticket unless the owner asks them too.
The weirdest thing about this post is the fact that they guys who owns the garage and driveway being questioned hasn’t used it in years.
By the way, you can probably find the permit for the curb cut on the DOT site- just look up the address and check the permitted work history. If it was there for 50 years or so, you won’t see it. Even if you find out it’s not a legal curb cut, the cops will still issue tickets at the owners request until the DOB makes him fill the cut in.
So, if you have a garage in essence you have egress to the garage spot and a second permanent spot on the street. Nice deal! But, I bet the the car parked on the street gets ticketed by our ever zealous traffic agents. I just can’t see them passing up writing a ticket and then letting the person prove they could park in the spot. Even it was legal, which I don’t believe is true, how would the agent know who’s entitled to park in that type of spot?
and how many people in nyc have their car registered somewhere else?
correct, nys traffic law says the owner is allowed to park in front of the driveway. any ticket will be thrown out if you can show that the car is registered to the property.
that would be fun revenge. when owner parks there – call police station and tell them someone blocking your driveway!