I think NJ gun laws and NYC parking laws may have been written by the same people.  I was confronted by the following sign in NYC yesterday and was wishing I had a law degree so I could figure out exactly what I was being instructed to do:

 

NYC parking signs, who designs these things?

So what exactly does the sign actually say? Does it say that only commercial vehicles can park there for a maximum of three hours between 7am and 7pm except for Sunday? What is the exception for Sunday? Does it mean those vehicles cannot park there either on Sunday? Does it mean they can park there Sunday but don’t have to pay? Does it mean that anyone can park there on Sunday if they pay? Does it mean anyone can park there on Sunday and they don’t have to pay? Or does it mean that they can park there as any other time if they pay but other vehicles can stand there on Sunday?

Would you dare park there on a Sunday without paying and risk a ticket of perhaps over $100????

If you think thats bad, I parked in brooklyn sunday night, no signs anywhere. I go to my car monday afternoon, brand ne "no parking" sign right next to my car and a $115 ticket. I pay the ticket, the following week, the sign is gone.

They just want your money.  Nothing to do with laws or "making sense"

 

NYC do not want you to drive your car into the city to deter congestion.

Most of NYC is commercial only during the day. So trucks can make deliverys

 

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

 

 

I am pretty sure it means anyone can park there for any amount of time 7pm-7am and all day sunday. That's what I always took it to mean when I park in NY. Never got towed or a ticket.

Where else in America do you find signs "Don't even THINK of parking here!" or "No Parking, No Standing, No Stopping, No Kidding!"

 

From a site for nyc visitors

Pretty simple. Commercial vehicles only between 7-7, mon-sat. 3hr limit and must pay muni meter. You can park your car or stand all other times. NY's parking system and signs are pretty straight forward once you get famliar with them.

Wait until you park somewhere in nyc that doesnt allow meter feeding. They literally expect you to come down and move your car every few hours.

 

Its also typically more expensive per hour to get more than 1 hour.

The point is these signs are just like NJ Guns laws, they are not intuitively understood by the average citizen.  You have to read them carefully, and ask yourself a lot of question to be certain you are obeying the law.  It is very easy to think you are in the right and find you are in the wrong just because of wording or where they place a comma.  The problem with the sign is one of those brown uniformed wannabe cops could decide to interpret it differently than you do then you end up with a ticket.  You could fight it and maybe win, but you might lose also.

 

I'll make this one even worse than the way I originally presented it.  About two feet below the sign was a yellow temporary paper sign that said no parking Saturday by order NYPD.  No problem there.  But just above that was a yellow sign facing the other direction that said no parking Sunday by order NYPD.  Now my quandary was even if the metal sign said I could legally park there with or without paying was the yellow paper sign really facing the other way or since it was loosely attached with a thin white rubber strap did it really mean forward of the post or had the heavy wind blown it around and it was to apply where I wanted to park.  I asked a guy who was unlocking his bike from the pole at the time and he said I was OK to park there on Sunday, but thought I might have to pay.  I asked about the yellow sign and he was concerned with that as he thought it might have blown around too.  He told me the paper sign should have had a date on it, but this one had none.  He looked around and suggested I rip down the paper sign.  I told him I did not want to do that as I was the one going to park there, and suggested he do it.  He said he was not a hooligan, but took another quick look and ripped it down crumpling up into his pocket and said now you are good.  That is when I snapped the full picture just showing the no Saturday sign on my iphone just in case.  I also did not pay, as I checked all the other cars on the street and found only two or three had paid as they did not understand either.  When I returned to the car at 10pm it was still there with no ticket. 

 

This was just like stopping for gas while you are driving home from a shooting match with a gun in your trunk, as you look over your shoulder not certain if you are legally doing this or are a potential felon.