City Will Slash That Parking Fine, if You Ask

New York City Program Slashes Parking Fines, but Only If You Ask - NYTimes.com

City Will Slash That Parking Fine, if You Ask

By JO CRAVEN McGINTY and RALPH BLUMENTHAL

In a city of markdowns, where bargains are prized, New York officials have been offering sharply reduced fines on parking tickets for almost three years and, remarkably, the deep discounts have gone largely unnoticed.

Any driver who challenges a parking ticket — in person, in writing or online — is offered a substantial, guaranteed reduction for most fines, under a program the city quietly introduced in 2005.

Plead guilty to parking at an expired meter in Midtown, for example, and agree to forgo a hearing, and the city will immediately reduce the fine from $65 to $43. No questions asked.

But most people who get tickets, about 80 percent by city estimates, do not challenge them and still simply pay the full fine.

While the willingness to pay full freight may be evidence of civic zeal, it also appears to be an outgrowth of the fact that public knowledge of the program remains slight. CLICK FOR MORE