GET RID OF DRIVEWAY BLOCKERSONCE AND FOR ALL

CONTENTS

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The Definition [4]

The Rule [5]

How to Remove a Vehicle Blocking your private driveway [6]

“5 Driveway Mistakes that Spell Disaster” [10]

“The Top 10 Blocked Driveways in NYC” [13]

Let’s Talk [15]

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DEFINITION

Every entrance or exit authorized pursuant to applicable law and used by vehicular traffic to or from lands or buildings abutting a roadway”

Driveway

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THE RULE

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.

4-08 (F)(2)

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HOW TO REMOVE VEHICLEN.Y. ADC. LAW § 19-169: NY Code - Section 19-169: “Removal of vehicles parked in front of a private driveway”

a. Subject to the provisions of this section an owner of a lot containing no more than two dwelling units, or his or her lessee, may cause any vehicle which is parked in front of his or her private driveway and which blocks the entry or egress of a vehicle from such property to be removed by a person licensed to engage in towing pursuant to subchapter thirty-one of chapter two of title twenty of the code, where a person authorized to issue a notice of parking violation has issued such a notice and affixed it to such unlawfully parked vehicle; the issuance of such a notice shall constitute authorization to the owner of such property, or his or her lessee, to arrange for removal of such unlawfully parked vehicle, and such removal shall be deemed to be at the request of the person who issued the notice.

b. Where the owner of such property, or his or her lessee, requests a police officer to arrange for removal of any such unlawfully parked vehicle, such vehicle shall be removed at the direction of the police department by the next available towing company participating in the rotation tow program established pursuant to section 20-519 of the code. Nothing in this section shall be construed to preclude an owner of such property, or his or her lessee, acting pursuant to this section, from arranging for the removal of such unlawfully parked vehicle by a tow operator of such person's choice. The commissioner of consumer affairs shall promulgate a regulation establishing performance standards for licensees in order to insure that vehicles summonsed under this section are towed as expeditiously as possible.

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c. 1. No vehicle may be removed pursuant to this section without the express written authorization issued to a person licensed to engage in towing pursuant to subchapter thirty-one of chapter two of title twenty of the code by the owner of such property, or his or her lessee. Such authorization shall include the location of the vehicle to be removed, the make, model, color and license plate number of such vehicle and a statement that such vehicle was removed pursuant to a notice of parking violation and shall be signed by the owner of such property, or his or her lessee, prior to removal.

2. A vehicle may not be removed if any person occupies it.

3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a vehicle which is removed shall be taken directly to a facility for storage maintained by the person licensed to engage in towing pursuant to subchapter thirty-one of chapter two of title twenty of the code who has removed such vehicle and which is within ten miles from the point of removal. If no such facility is available, the closest available facility for storage maintained by a person so licensed shall be utilized. Such facility for storage must be a secure place for safekeeping vehicles.

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4. Any person who removes a vehicle pursuant to this section shall within thirty minutes of the vehicle's arrival at a facility for storage notify the local police precinct having jurisdiction over the area of such removal of the storage site, the time the vehicle was removed, the location the vehicle was removed from, the make, model, color and license plate number of the vehicle, the name of the person who signed an authorization for the removal and the fact that such vehicle was removed pursuant to a notice of parking violation and shall obtain the name of the person at such police precinct to whom such information was reported and note such name on a trip record together with the date and time that the vehicle was removed.

5. If the registered owner or other person in control of the vehicle arrives at the scene prior to removal of the vehicle and such vehicle is connected to any apparatus for removal, the vehicle shall be disconnected from such apparatus and such person shall be allowed to remove the vehicle without interference upon payment of a reasonable service fee of not more than one-half of the charge allowed for removal as provided in paragraph eight of this subdivision, for which a receipt shall be given.

6. The registered owner or other person in control of a vehicle which has been removed pursuant to this section shall have the right to inspect the vehicle before accepting its return. No release or waiver of any kind, which would release the person or company removing the vehicle from liability for damages, may be required from any such owner or other person as a condition of release of the vehicle to such person. A detailed, signed receipt showing the legal name of the person or company removing the vehicle must be given to the person paying the removal and storage charges at the time of payment.

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8. Notwithstanding the charges permitted to be collected under subdivision c of section 20-519 of this code, a person who removes a vehicle pursuant to section 19-169 of this code may collect the following charges from the owner or other person in control of such vehicle, payable before the vehicle is released: one hundred dollars for removal and the first three days of storage; ten dollars per day for storage thereafter, except that no charge may be collected for removal or storage of a vehicle pursuant to this section by a person who is not licensed to engage in towing pursuant to subchapter thirty one of chapter two of title twenty of the code. To law enforcement, firefighting, rescue squad, ambulance, or other emergency vehicles which are marked as such.

9. (left blank)

10. When an owner of property, or his or her lessee, improperly causes a vehicle to be removed, such person shall be liable to the owner or other person in control of the vehicle for the cost of removal, transportation and storage and for any damage resulting from the removal, transportation and storage of the vehicle.

d. No person licensed pursuant to subchapter thirty-one of chapter two of title twenty of the code shall refuse, without justifiable grounds, a request by any person acting pursuant to this section to remove a vehicle unlawfully blocking a private driveway. Any person who violates this subdivision shall be punished as follows: for the first violation, a fine of one hundred dollars; for the second violation within a period of twelve months of the date of a first violation, a fine of two hundred dollars; and for any additional violations within a period of twenty-four months of the date of a first violation, a fine of five

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“5 DRIVEWAY MISTAKES THAT SPELL DISASTER”

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1.  I only blocked the driveway a tad (wee bit, just a little)

• The opposition running back only broke the plane of the goal a tad • My wife is just a wee bit pregnant • I'm just a little late for my wedding If the front bumper or rear bumper of your car crosses the plane of the driveway, you're going to be issued a little parking ticket with a wee fine of $115. It doesn't matter whether there was plenty of room for the owner of the driveway to exit, you are an evil driveway blocker. Stop it!

2.  The driveway wasn't active

All well and good, but that's not the standard. Active, schmactive. The rule only permits parking in front of driveways:

…That have been rendered unusable (emphasis added) 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.

[See, 34 RCNY 4-08 (f)(2)]

This bears repeating:

• The driveway is rendered unusable due to the presence of a building • Or other fixed object • And is used for vehicles to enter and exit the property

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3.  But there was no garage

A driveway is defined as:

Every entrance or exit authorized pursuant to applicable law and used by vehicular traffic to or from lands or buildings abutting a roadway.

There is no mention of a garage because it's not required to qualify as a driveway. The driveway can end at the house, and it's still a driveway. The tipping points are:

• Is the space used by vehicles to enter and exit the property? • Is the driveway configuration legal? Does it comply with the law, rules, and regulations For example, if the zoning laws do not permit parking a car on the lawn in front of the house, then a curb cut leading to the lawn is not a driveway.

The conundrum is that, if the homeowner, cops, or warriors disagree with your decision to blockade, you'll be issued a parking ticket, and Captain Hook may pay a visit.  Is it worth a $115 parking ticket, and a tow to test the accuracy of your interpretation of the rule?

4.  I owned the 5-family house

I hope you're making a bunch of money from your tenants. But, an owner cannot block his own driveway unless there are 2 or fewer dwelling units.

5.  There used to be a retail store that has gone out of business about 8 years ago

You still can't block the driveway.

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“NYC’S MOST BLOCKED DRIVEWAYS OF 2014

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In a city where alternate side parking can feel like a game of musical chairs gone horribly wrong, a driveway is an incredible blessing-that is until it is blocked by a parked car and you can’t get out.

I see cars blocking driveways all the time, and I see driveway owners illegally paint yellow curbs, or add bigger and scarier no parking signs in response. It’s a game of cat and mouse. 

Since everyone else did 2014 wrap ups, I decided to do my own quantitative wrap up right here on I Quant NY. The question?   What were the ten most blocked driveways of 2014.  Lucky for us, Open Data from 311 might just have the answer.  It turns out that the NYPD fielded about 200 calls a day in 2014 for blocked driveway complaints, for a total of about 78,000 calls. That is a LOT of frustration, no pun intended.

If we look at the top ten driveways with the most complaints, it becomes clear that these constant pleas to 311 for help are warranted.  Google Street View cars caught driveway blockers in the act at almost all of the locations.   So lets have a look:

10. 109 Grand St, Brooklyn, NY (link)- 39 complaints

Here’s a link to I Quant, one totally super website to meet the remaining 9 driveways.

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NEW YORK PARKING TICKET LLCNeed help fighting a parking ticket for you or your company? If so, let’s talk. Simply clickon the link to start beating NYC parking tickets.

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