Last year, New Yorkers contested 3.2 million parking tickets, about 15% more than in 2009. But when one of those wrong tickets belongs to Jackson Heights Assemblyman Michael DenDekker's mother, it's time to take action. Yesterday, DenDekker introduced a revision to a bill he introduced last year that would require all municipalities in the state to pay a $100 fine to motorists who were wrongly ticketed, like his mother was when she got a ticket for violating alternate side parking rules on a Thursday when the rule was only in effect on Wednesdays.
DenDekker's mother reportedly sent the Department of Finance a copy of the ticket and photos of the street sign, and they responded saying they needed more photos to be extra sure. DenDekker said, "When someone does nothing wrong and they have to prove themselves, they should be reimbursed for their time and effort." However, some argue that the city doesn't have the money to pay for bad tickets (and let's not even talk about making traffic agents double check their work). "As much as we might agree with its sentiment, we think the timing for it is not good right now," said Robert Sinclair of AAA New York. "We need ways of finding more money for the city, not taking away."
