Greenfield calls for notification before cars are towed

Coming back and finding that your car no longer is where you left it triggers fear and anger, especially if you parked legally in the first place.

That’s something Councilmember David Greenfield knows all too well. One day, he parked outside City Hall only to find his car missing when he returned to it.

Learning that it had been towed because the spot had been turned into a temporary tow-away zone has driven him to introduce legislation that would give drivers a notice of at least 24 hours before the city could convert a perfectly legal parking spot into a temporary tow-away zone.

“The city knows months in advance; there’s no reason why drivers shouldn’t be informed. You park in the morning, and the NYPD comes and posts a ‘temporary tow-away’ sign right before the event starts, and when you come back your car is gone.”

This situation often occurs when special events like movie shoots, street fairs and block parties take pace, Greenfield explained.

“There are a lot of festivals in Brooklyn,” Greenfield continued, adding that it’s frustrating to have to “hunt for your car,” for hours, going from block to block in search for it. In order to prevent these experiences from happening, Greenfield calls for the “simple, common-sense legislation” he’s introducing to pass.

“I hope we have a lot of support,” he said. “This law would is part of my continuing efforts to update the city’s parking and traffic rules to better serve the public.”