My car was auctioned without my consent after I received parking tickets – but I received an official disabled license

A New Yorker with Parkinson’s disease said he was stuck at home after city bosses sold his car to cover unpaid parking tickets.

The driver spent years fighting to have the fines reversed.

“It was an absolute disaster,” Jonathan Steinberg told The US Sun on Tuesday.

“And it has gotten worse with each passing month.

“I’m genuinely conflicted about what I should do next to recover from the misery we’ve been forced to endure by not having a car and having spent hundreds of hours working on this stupid case over the last few years.”

Steinberg, who is in his 70s, initially told New York Post Office that he first received a disabled parking permit from the city in 2018.

The permit allows people to disregard alternative side parking rules – these regulations allow for street cleaning.

Despite Steinberg having Parkinson’s disease, which affects his balance, city bosses said he owed thousands of dollars for unpaid parking tickets.

Michael J Fox, 62, also has Parkinson’s disease, a long-term degenerative disease of the nervous system.

Despite its condition, Steinberg’s vehicle was confiscated and auctioned off, he told NYP last year.

“I don’t go around, I stay at home a lot,” added Steinberg, who is a lawyer in the UK and specializes in vintage fountain pens.

RED TAPE

He alleged in his lawsuit that city bureaucrats were “picking on people with disabilities” and “provoking people with Parkinson’s.”

Steinberg began his legal action against the Department of Finance to overturn the fines.

In court documents, he explained that he had difficulty renewing his parking permit due to pandemic-related bureaucracy.

New York’s parking permit for people with disabilities allows recipients to park in “no-parking” zones on public streets and at parking meters without paying money.

How to Fight a Parking Ticket

You can avoid being fined by following all published laws and regulations, but sometimes mistakes are made

Like any form of citation, parking tickets can be avoided by reading and obeying posted signage. However, when visiting a new city, or state, or in a hurry, things can be missed and mistakes can be made.

Suddenly there’s a ticket you weren’t prepared to pay for. If the ticket comes as a surprise to you, there are some things you can do to help your case when appealing a parking ticket.

• Read the ticket carefully. Look for errors such as incorrect street names, license plate numbers, vehicle make and model, time and date, etc. Errors would render the ticket invalid.
• Take pictures. The vehicle in the space, lack of signage, or other vehicles that were not cited for performing the same parking service. If the ticket involves parking too close to something like a fire hydrant, a photo showing a reasonable distance would help your case. Make sure metadata with time and date is accessible. Signs that are obstructed by trees, or on crooked posts, or that are not “obvious” are also great things to photograph.
• Make sure the statute that was violated is listed on the ticket. If it is not listed, the ticket is not valid.
• Immediately follow the appeal instructions on the ticket. All legitimate tickets will have appeal instructions. Waiting until the last moment weakens your argument and can result in late fees.
• When in court, avoid these phrases as they reduce your credibility and weaken your argument:
  • “I didn’t know the law.”
  • “I was going to move my car.”
  • “I can’t pay this ticket.”
  • “I’ve been doing this for years.”
  • “I checked with the parking officer, who said everything was fine.”
• Contact a lawyer. If you are facing obstacles and feel stuck, you may want to contact a traffic lawyer in your area. Many have free case consultations.

Source: Reader Summary

These drivers may also avoid parking rules on alternate sides.

Steinberg and his wife, Nancie, live in a Yorkville co-op.

He explained that he had to deal with two problems at about the same time – his license was renewed during the pandemic, but his parked car was totaled by a hit-and-run driver.

So Steinberg bought a different car – with a different license plate – and registered it in his wife’s name.

However, this complicated things further, as this new vehicle then had to be covered by a new license application.

He was given a two-month temporary permit.

But the delivery of your new parking permit has been delayed.

In the meantime, Steinberg displayed his expired temporary license on the dashboard, with a note explaining “permanent license plate change requested.”

The fines soon escalated, with documents filed by city lawyers saying his license was expired and the license did not match his license plate.

“They can make your life an absolute misery while you die from Parkinson’s,” Steinberg said.

“The city extended the permits but did not notify parking attendants.”

AUCTIONED

After a city deputy started the car, Steinberg paid $1,120 in fines to have the trunk removed.

However, this payment was in vain as he continued to receive tickets for parking violations.

It was then restarted, towed and auctioned.

“I have always had a valid license application in progress or received incorrect information from the department responsible for issuing licenses,” Steinberg wrote in his lawsuit.

A Department of Health spokesperson confirmed that Steinberg was approved on medical grounds in April 2022 for a further two years of disabled parking permit.

This was granted for a “permanent disability that seriously impairs mobility”, he said.

“As this is ongoing litigation, we are unable to comment further at this time,” a Department of Finance spokesperson said.

The US Sun was unable to confirm the current status of the litigation, but reached out to the department for an update on the lawsuit and for further comment.

However, it is believed that the appealed decision is still being processed in the intermediate court of second instance.