Bay Terrace Drivers Protest Ticket Blitz

Late last week a few residents gathered in front of Lola Norowitz’s home in Birchwood. It wasn’t for a yard sale, and they weren’t planning this summers neighborhood picnic. It was to discuss the ticket blitz of their neighborhood less than two weeks ago, when police officers broke a 15-year unwritten covenant to not issue summonses to cars parked in the driveways of Bay Terrace homes.
"The driveways are a little short," said Norowitz, explaining that homes in the area had been built with ill-equipped driveways not long enough to hold most car models.
As a result, residents vehicles rear fenders jutt over driveways and over the sidewalk. Though it had not been enforced for more than a decade, the miscalculated overhang has recently resulted in tickets for illegally parking on the sidewalk. The violation carries a $115 fine.
"We received two tickets for literally just a few inches overhanging," carped resident Scott Rubin about his run-in with the law. He noted that parking fully in the driveway is impossible, unless he puts his car in the garagewhich he won’t do for fear of waking his wife when he comes home at 3 a.m. from the Manhattan steak house where he works. "In essence you cannot use your own car in your driveway," he said.
Moreover, residents say the problem is not their fault and blame the Department of Buildings for the violations.
"The houses should not have gotten a certificate of occupancy in that case," said Norowitz. "I would never have bought my house if I knew I couldn’t park in my driveway."
Older residents say a similar ticket blitz happened in the past. George Nashculler, who has lived on Water’s Edge Avenue for 20 years and insists the overhang is legal, said the situation had been resolved approximately 15 years ago, when a councilmember reached an agreement with the 109th Precinct, which patrols the area, to not allow officers to ticket them.
According to the tickets, the recent spate of violations were issued by Officer M. Hernandez from the 111th Precinct. But a community affairs officer at the 111th insisted they didn’t come from any of his officers, nor did he know of an Officer Hernandez.
Regardless of who issued it, Rubin is still steamed about the $230 he supposedly owes, and scrutinized the times the summonses were issued.
"We looked at the ticket; it was given at three o’clock in the morning," he said. "Obviously they’re giving it at a time when they don’t want a confrontation."
City politicians are currently fighting the tickets, in hopes to have the parking made legal for these residents and reimburse those who may have already paid their tickets.