For immediate release...

"Parking Expert" Erik Feder gets a NYC parking ticket - on purpose!

Is it possible that the City has rigged some kind of system that detects when a motorist has left their car at a meter without paying? Many readers of PARKAZINE ("Parking Expert" Erik Feder's free NYC parking e-newsletter) complain about how fast NYC police and traffic officers write parking tickets - especially at parking meters. These drivers lament the fact that they only left their cars for a minute and BANG! - there was a parking ticket on the windshield.

The experiment: The Parking Expert tries it for himself

After getting dozens of emails complaining about this type of thing, Erik figured that either A.) People were exaggerating and they were really gone a lot longer than a minute or B.) Something funny is going on. With that in mind, he decided to conduct a little experiment. Feder parked at a meter on 2nd Ave in Manhattan, didn't put money in the meter, started his stopwatch and ducked into a pizzeria. With no police or traffic officers in sight; the "Parking Expert" decided he'd wait up to 10 minutes and leave if he didn't get a ticket.

The result: Faster than you can say "Except Sunday"

The first minute passed uneventfully. Suddenly, a police car zoomed up and stopped alongside Erik's car. The officer sat there for a few seconds, hopped out, slapped a ticket on the windshield and sped away. The time on Feder's stopwatch: 93 seconds!

Coincidence? While some may think so, the "Parking

Expert" is skeptical. As for the parking ticket, of course he was planning to pay it, but even though the ticket was created with one of those new hand-held computers, the time of issuance, date of offense, parking meter # and parking ticket # are all either missing or illegible. You KNOW that Feder is fighting this one!

Copyright 2006 Rhythmo Productions

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