NYC esoteric parking rules

May 20, 2024 9:04 AM

I live in Brooklyn. A neighbor put up a new 'no parking' sign in front of his inactive/unusable driveway that was never up before. Does he have a right to tow cars that park there?

I have lived in my apartment for 7 years. There is a neighbor in a single family building that is set far back from the street, with an iron gate that looks like it could open up to a driveway but doesn't actually (it's welded shut) which also has heavy, seemingly permanent structures behind it (ie, these items have never been moved in the 7 years I've been here) where a 'driveway' would be. Think concrete planters and the like.

Up until recently, this 'driveway' didn't even have a cut in the curb so any normal car couldn't drive into the 'driveway' anyway. And there was never a 'no parking' sign on the gate so everyone would freely park there.

In the last few months, immediately next to that neighbor, a brand new small residential condo building was built. The ground floor has a garage and they had the city create a cut in the curb to allow for garage entry. That new curb cut happens to extend to the front of the pre-existing neighbor's gate.

The neighbor has recently begun putting a 'no parking' sign on his own gate, quite obviously for the purpose of 'reserving' public street parking for his own car. He does not pull into his 'driveway', nor has he ever (again with the welded gate and cement structures).

My question is, is this legal and could he technically have someone come tow if they parked in front of his house? I have a car and have other opportunities to park, but honestly it is the entitlement that irks me. I do not plan on taking any action against this guy or parking there, but I want to know if someone can just throw up a sign and be able to use that against you to tow you? Alternatively, is there a way to look up with the city if it's a legal driveway?

I've been trying to google this but not finding anything.

Thanks!

posted by greta simone to Law & Government (13 answers total)

Mind you it's about 10 years old but in my experience YES you can be towed. There was a very similar situation where I used to live in Queens, technically it was a driveway, but the gate never opened and the parking area was a patio with a grill and other furniture and was quite obviously never used for parking. People parked there all the time and I don't know what happened to them but we got towed.
posted by Captain_Science at 9:20 AM on May 20 [1 favorite]

The city should have a record of where parking is prohibited. If he parks in a prohibited space, he can be towed, as well.
posted by theora55 at 9:25 AM on May 20 [2 favorites]

Yeah. The sticking point here is that your neighbor can also be towed for parking there. Although he could always take the sign down when parking on the street in front of his own driveway.
posted by slkinsey at 9:29 AM on May 20 [1 favorite]

You want Section 4-08 (f)(2) of the NYC DOT Traffic Rules (at page 38) (yeah, I know).

(f) General no standing zones (standing and parking prohibited in specified places). No person shall stand or park a vehicle in any of the following places, unless otherwise indicated by posted signs, markings or other traffic control devices, or at the direction of a law enforcement officer:
. . .
(2) Driveways. In front of a public or private driveway, except that it shall be permissible for the owner, lessor or lessee of the lot accessed by a private driveway to park a passenger vehicle registered to him/her at that address in front of such driveway, provided that such lot does not contain more than two dwelling units and further provided that such parking does not violate any other provision of the Vehicle and Traffic Law or local law or rule concerning the parking, stopping or standing of motor vehicles. The prohibition herein shall not apply to driveways that have been rendered unusable due to the presence of a building or other fixed obstruction and, therefore, are not being used as defined in §4-01(b) of these rules.

IAAL. IANATrafficL. (Yes there is such a thing as a traffic lawyer). IANYL. This isn't legal advice and I'm not even telling you how this applies to you (see the last sentence about a "fixed obstruction"). But that section is where the answer is.
posted by The Bellman at 9:31 AM on May 20 [7 favorites]

Yes, see NYC DOT Title 34, § 4-08 Parking, Stopping, Standing. The homeowner probably doesn't use any part of the driveway itself as off-street parking as entering and exiting is difficult (traffic, closely parked cars, a narrow street). The new condo building means more congestion (including deliveries), and a curb cut now highlights his driveway; the sign appeared because the homeowner's the only one who can park in the space at the entry to his driveway.
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:19 AM on May 20 [1 favorite]

As I always understood it, the curb cut is the key. Curb cut, no parking.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:28 AM on May 20 [1 favorite]

I HATE it when private owners control street parking. It's incredibly selfish and entitled! Street parking is public space. I hear that you don't want to take action, but I think you should. Take a couple photos documenting his sign, the lack of curb cut, and welded gate, and report it to a bylaw officer using a throwaway email address. Repeat every 2 weeks til his sign gets taken down.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 11:09 AM on May 20 [2 favorites]

The question of legality is maybe not the most important one here. Can and do homeowners call tow companies to tow cars they want moved? Yes. Do tow companies do that, knowing they are likely as not get paid b/c you aren't going to fight them for $400 via court if you did try to get your tow fees back? Yes.

I also don't think that curb cut really applies to his property. So if you want to be a stickler, you could call 311 and submit a complaint about an illegal curb cut, b/c that sounds like one to me.
posted by RajahKing at 11:13 AM on May 20 [4 favorites]

Getting a curb cut in NYC is not easy. It takes persistence and time. My guess is that the homeowner got it finally as part of the deal to give one to the new building next door. I also think the value in a curb cut is an asset. It will increase the resale value of their home. Maybe the reason the gate is welded shut and there are other obstacles to pulling in is because they did not yet have the curb cut. Maybe they plan on using the driveway in the future. Maybe when they sell the new owner will want to use it. I also think they have to protect the curb cut by putting up a no parking sign.

The owner is not controlling on street parking. The owner either uses the driveway or does not, either way, no one can park there. Even if the owner now parks there, the result is the same, no one else uses the spot. While I highly doubt it is the case, there are many other reasons they might want or need that curb cut. Maybe there is a resident that has a medical condition that requires emergency access. Maybe that person could not move in until there was a curb cut.

I live in Westchester, but I regularly park on the street on the upper East Side and in Williamsburg. Getting a parking spot is now harder than ever. But, if the city granted them a curb cut, they have the curb cut and you should not park there.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:37 AM on May 20 [7 favorites]

Your question is the premise of the intro segment of a This American Life episode.

Short answer: The driveway does not need to be actually functional for the No Parking rules to apply. But that "No Parking" also applies to the owner of the driver way.
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 12:05 PM on May 20 [1 favorite]

The driveway does not need to be actually functional for the No Parking rules to apply. But that "No Parking" also applies to the owner of the driver way.

As pointed out above, neither of these statements is necessarily true in New York City. Highlighting the relevant parts of the NYC DOT Traffic Rules linked above:

The prohibition herein shall not apply to driveways that have been rendered unusable due to the presence of a building or other fixed obstruction and, therefore, are not being used

it shall be permissible for the owner, lessor or lessee of the lot accessed by a private driveway to park a passenger vehicle registered to him/her at that address in front of such driveway

posted by mbrubeck at 12:15 PM on May 20 [5 favorites]

My understanding is that the owner is legally allowed to park in front of his curb cut, it's not a towable offense as stated in another comment, but also, if the driveway or garage space has been rendered unusable as a driveway, the curb cut is no longer valid:

“(2) Driveways. In front of a public or private driveway, except that it shall be permissible for the owner, lessor, or lessee of the lot accessed by a private driveway to park a passenger vehicle registered to them at that address in front of the such driveway, provided that such lot does not contain more than two dwelling units and further provided that such parking does not violate any other provision of the Vehicle and Traffic Law or local law or rule concerning the parking, stopping or standing of motor vehicles.

The prohibition herein shall not apply to driveways that have been rendered unusable due to the presence of a building or other fixed obstruction and, therefore, are not being used as defined in §4-01(b) of these rules.”

I have a curb cut in front of my business in Brooklyn which was formerly a car repair shop with a large garage door opening. Once we replaced the garage door with a permanent storefront facade the curb cut was no longer valid.

You might want to see if it was a valid permitted curb cut that extends that far. On my block there was a business that had a curb cut and they very poorly extended it another car length in front of the brick wall of their building, then threatened to tow me when I parked there. After an argument about what is and isn't a valid curb cut, I ended up call the DOT and they ended up getting fined and having to rebuild the curb in front of their building.
posted by newpotato at 1:20 PM on May 20 [2 favorites]

Official parking signs are shown on the NYC Parking Signs map. It doesn't sound like this is official, since it's on the gate and not on the street, but if it shows up on the map then it's official.

It is far more likely that this is an illegal curb cut. As JohnnyGunn and RajahKing said above, getting a new curb cut for an existing building is very, very difficult. It is likely that even if the new building was officially granted one, the existing home was not. You can review the city's street construction permits online to verify—but to get anyone to do anything about it, you'll probably need to reach out to your community board or council member and give up your anonymity.
posted by thecaddy at 8:27 AM on May 21