Excerpt from Chapter 4 (Towing: All of New York is a Tow-Away Zone) of the THE NEW YORK CITY MOTORISTS’ PARKING SURVIVAL GUIDE. Having your car towed is one of the most traumatic things that can happen to a car owner. You park your car, run your errands and return only to find your car missing. Even worse is being there when it happens. On the bright side, having your car towed is completely avoidable. Even if you never fight a parking ticket and decide to pay every ticket, you will never have your car towed (unless there is a computer mix-up). I have seen people walk back to their car, find a parking ticket on the windshield and just casually pick it up and toss it in the street. Or there are those who save their tickets in hopes of cashing them in one day for a set of cookware or a new bicycle. What are these people thinking? Sooner or later, the City Sheriff or Marshall will find you. Then it is too late. Even when it comes time to renewing your driver’s license, the City will get its money, and you will have to pay the piper big time. Why Would Your Car Be Towed? There are two simple reasons (other than computer error) that would result in a car being towed: #1. Being illegally parked (because you might have misread or ignored a parking regulation sign). #2. Having outstanding parking tickets that have lapsed into default judgment and fines and penalties totaling more than $230. When you receive a summons, you have 29 days to answer the summons. Once this window to respond closes after 120 days after the response deadline, you will be declared in default judgment for that summons. By default, you are now guilty and liable for the fine, penalties and interest. If you accumulate more than $230 in fines, penalties and interest, it is open season on your car. Once your car is seized, you have 30 days to claim it and pay all outstanding fines, penalties and interest. If not, your car will be sold at auction to satisfy the judgment, minus the sheriff fees and other expenses. However, you may decide to say, “To heck with the car—it’s not worth the book value in fines, penalties and interest. Let ’em sell it.” Then you may have another problem. If the sale of the auctioned car does not generate enough to cover the outstanding fines, penalties and interest owed the City, any car you decide to purchase in the future may also be seized to satisfy this old judgment. So choose wisely. Ignoring even one summons is not in your best interest. A word of advice: If you’re not going to fight the ticket, do yourself a favor. Just pay the ticket now before one small summons becomes a really big headache. The choice is yours. What to Do When Your Car is Towed If you believe your car has been towed, first call 212-TOW-AWAY to see if your car was actually towed. If not, call the local police precinct to report your car stolen. If you were towed in Manhattan below 96th Street, your car will probably be waiting for you at Pier 76, located at West 38th Street and 12th avenue. Pier 76, also known as the Main Pound, is open 7 days a week. Call the PVB at (212) 477-4430 to check if you have any outstanding summonses on your license plate. If you have outstanding tickets on your car, pay them first before you get to the Main Pound. When you get to the pound, you must bring with you: 1. the registration for the vehicle 2. your driver’s license 3. $150 payable in cash, travelers checks, by certified check or a NYCE bank card that can be used to debit your account for the amount of the tow. (Company checks are accepted for commercial vehicles only.) 4. extra cash, because there is a $15/day storage fee after the first 24 hours. Peak hours tend to be 1-7 p.m. If you can, plan your visit accordingly. This is not going to be a pleasant experience. Bring a friend or something to read to pass the time. Keep in mind that when your car is towed, the clock is running, and you have about 96 hours to find and claim your vehicle or it will be considered abandoned. After 30 days, your car will be sold at an auction. If a call to the police proves unsuccessful, you may also want to call the Sheriff’s Office and/or Marshall’s Department. These telephone numbers are listed for your convenience on page 113 in Chapter 8. Depending on what borough your vehicle was towed from, you will have to go to one of the following borough tow pounds: --- Tow Pounds Bronx - Hunts Point (718) 585-1385 141 Street at Southern and Bruckner Blvds. Brooklyn - Ft. Greene (718) 834-1151 Brooklyn Navy Yard Sand and Navy Streets Manhattan - Pier 23 West & Beach Streets Pier 60 (212) 971-1068 12 Avenue and 19 Street Pier 76 (212) 971-0770 West 38 Street and 12 Avenue Washington Heights (212) 569-9099 West 203 Street and 9 Avenue Queens - Jamaica (718) 658-5182 168 Street and Jamaica Avenue Maspeth (718) 786-7140 56 Row and Laurel Hill Blvd. Whitestone (718) 445-0100 Linden Place and Whitestone Expressway --- If your car was illegally parked and was towed because you do not have any other outstanding tickets, you will still be required to pay the tow fee of $150 in order to redeem your car. The summons you received for being illegally parked can be paid separately, if you decide to pay it. Or you can fight it like any other parking ticket. PVO Borough Help Centers Appointments are not necessary at Borough Adjudication Centers. However, it is necessary to bring with you the summons and all pertinent evidence relating to your case. Office Hours: 8:30 am-4:30 pm, Monday-Friday • Bronx 1400 Williamsbridge Road, first floor Bronx, NY 10461 718-409-1618 • Brooklyn 210 Joralemon Street, ninth floor Brooklyn Heights, NY 11201 718-802-3531 • Manhattan 66 John Street, second floor 212-361-1212 • Queens 89-61 162nd Street, first floor Jamaica, NY 11433 718-523-6010 • Staten Island 350 St. Marks Place, third floor St. George, 10301 718-390-5452 • For additional information on the PVB Help Line, call 718-422-7800. Para informacion adicional llama a la Linea de Ayuda 718-422-7800. TYY (Hard of Hearing) 718-802-3555 Out-of-State 800-813-9183 --- Field Release for a Car About to be Towed A Field Release of towed vehicles is only permitted in the midtown area of 34th and 59th streets from Third to Eighth avenues. This policy is not applicable in any other area of the City. However, the vehicle may be released only under the following conditions: 1. If the tow truck has not moved from the site. 2. The motorist can requests a Field Supervisor. 3. The driver must present a valid driver’s license. 4. Keys to the vehicle must be provided and one of the following: - registration certificate - title to vehicle - insurance card - rental agreement - company identification for commercial vehicles The motorist must then sign a vehicle release form (which will be filled out by the tow truck driver), and pay $75 instead of the usual $150. However, if you have any unpaid parking tickets, your vehicle will not be released until the outstanding ticket(s) are paid. --- The Top Ten Towing Hot Spots in New York City 1. Midtown North 6. East Side 2. Brooklyn Heights 7. Upper West Side 3. Gramercy Park 8. Washington Heights 4. Chelsea 9. Wall Street 5. Greenwich Village/SoHo 10. Midtown South --- Booting by Private Companies An increasingly common practice by strip mall and private property owners is to boot cars that are using their parking lot. Although everything in this book up to now has dealt with parking on public property, this practice pertains to private property. As I write in my parking columns, private property owners can do want they want; that is why it’s private property. But even so, that doesn’t mean you do not have any rights, and here they are: In the event your car is booted: 1. You cannot be charged more than $25 to have the boot removed. 2. You can pay with a credit card and do not have to pay in cash. 3. A sign must be posted warning drivers that they may be booted if they are illegally parked. Your car cannot be legally booted if a warning sign is not posted on the property. 4. You must be given a receipt that details the address of the property where you were booted and the phone number of the booting company. 5. If your car is towed by the booting company, you cannot be charged extra. To file a booting complaint, contact the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs at (212) 487-4444. If the booting operators are harassing or threatening you, call the local police precinct. --- back - top - Buy the PARKING SURVIVAL GUIDE