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A Park Slope man says he got a ticket because his neighbor did a most unneighborly thing — and now he’s fighting back.
Carroll Street resident MichÂael Goldberger is challenging a ticket he received for parking in a space marked by a crude curb-side barrier and a hand-lettered sign reading “Delivery zone: violators will be towed at their own expense” — a sign that he claims his neighbor put up without any right to do so.
“Imagine if everyone in the neighborhood put up such signs,” Goldberger said in a letter to the Department of Finance, which handles ticket adjudication.
Goldberger makes a strong case — there is no curb cut to designate a driveway in front of 557 Carroll St., and until owner John Alessio put up the sawhorse and sign, cars had routinely parked in that space.
According to the Department of Transportation, residents may place signs on their own property, but not on the sidewalk or curb — so Alessio’s sign appears to be illegal.
“There aren’t enough parking spaces in Park Slope as it is,” Goldberger told The Stoop. “For one person to decide that kind of thing is just unfair.”
On a recent Tuesday morning, the north side of Carroll Street between Fourth and Fifth Avenues was filled beyond capacity, with cars double-parked to allow for street cleaning. There wasn’t an available space in sight, save for the one in front of 557 Carroll St.
For now, at least, neighbors know to not park there. But that could change if Goldberger wins his case, which is expected to be heard later this summer.
Alessio did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
©2007 The Brooklyn Paper
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