Dear Editor:
On behalf of all of us who have been written baseless tickets by the Parking Authority, I would like to thank the Hudson Reporter for publishing what occurs from time to time.
I also would like to add that the last time I went to court, no longer were all the tickets for parking next to a red curb dismissed. Instead, a small fine was still judged to be valid by the court. This is disturbing because many small fines means plenty of money obtained by the city, money that it is acquiring unfairly from its residents.
Upon leaving court the last time, I was told that there is a high price and level of inconvenience to the appeals process, which, if true, further enhances the power of the JCPA’s tickets, many of which in my experience have lacked concrete justification for their writing.
A few weeks ago I got two more tickets, and I’m going to court tonight. Unfortunately, I don’t expect to get all the fines waived, even though there are no signs indicating that parking at a red curb is illegal, anywhere! I can certainly understand that a ticket should be written if a car is blocking a crosswalk, but the number of red curbs in this city dictate that if the parking authority were to write tickets for each car parked at one, especially during overnight and street sweeping periods, then the city would garner thousands of dollars daily, and unjustifiably so at that.
Although it is not the sole reason for doing so, I am moving out of Jersey City in July. I am glad that I won’t have to put up with arbitrary enforcement of phantom ordinances by the parking authority any more after July 1.
Sincerely,
Michael Walters