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Runners angry after receiving parking tickets during race

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by Rob Nelson / Eyewitness News

Posted on November 26, 2009 at 12:37 PM

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NEW ORLEANS -- For hundreds of residents on a chilly Thanksgiving Day, there was no better way to warm up than a good race around City Park for a longtime Thanksgiving tradition.

But many of the runners got even more heated when they got to their cars after the race.

After they had already taken off running, hundreds of residents were ticketed by the city for parking on the neutral ground along Marconi Drive.

Drivers said they've been parking there for years and never had this problem before, but many found a $75 dollar ticket on their windshield.

Though there are signs on Marconi about not parking on the neutral ground, residents said that area is frequently used for parking without drivers getting ticketed. Some even said they've seen police even direct cars onto the neutral ground for other events in the neighborhood.

“We’ve been doing this for, at this location, 20 years or plus, and we’ve never had this problem before,” said David Bozant, who got a ticket.

Geoff Rose, who also got a ticket, said, “It’s the city trying to get greedy. This is ridiculous. It’s Thanksgiving, it’s absolutely ridiculous. It’s why people hate doing things in the city of New Orleans now.”

Those tickets are $75, and if they're not paid within 30 days, the price tag shoots up to $150.
 

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bluerunner said on November 26, 2009 at 1:17 PM

Wow this story was out quick I guess the runners really were upset. Sounds like the city found themselves some easy prey.

downnredy said on November 26, 2009 at 1:45 PM

After I received 7 radar tickets for going 4 miles over the speed limit (keeping with the flow of traffic) I decided I made a huge mistake coming back to New Orleans. Greed - the huge tax base from corporations like Chevron, Exxon and many others that left - is now on the backs of the residents. Well, I guess we have to pay for the 23 cars sitting outside of the Sherrif's office on Tulane Ave. Goodbye New Orleans ------- I'm moving back to Florida.

rwa6n said on November 26, 2009 at 2:59 PM

not fun to get a ticket, but parking on the neutral ground destroys the grass... the only problem here is that it hasn't been enforced in the past. downredy - leaving because you got a few speeding tickets? LAME.

seapath said on November 26, 2009 at 3:31 PM

Rw6n: downready isn't leaving because of parking tickets, he, like me, is leaving because a completely corrupt city. Blacks are not capable of running their own lives let alone a city. Look at the black run cities in the US. Detroit, Camden and others. Uneducated and unqualified leaders are voted in by an uneducated black electorate. New Orleans is a sewer and always will be until wihite people can fix the mess.

2leggedzoo said on November 26, 2009 at 5:02 PM

The city has so many groups willing to put on events bringing people and their money into the city. Apparently the Parking Violations Bureau is jealous, they want their cut.. The Cajun Tomato Festival and the Satchmofest had hundreds of cars ticketed on Peters. None were parked in the street, or in an area where there was a sign prohibiting it. This abuse of authority is not good for the city, no matter how much they raise in fnes. .

mrhappy said on November 26, 2009 at 6:48 PM

Too funny. Here in Denver we had 5k races all over the city and our police actually helped people park. It kind of figures that New Orleans handled it this way. Most of the South is pretty backwards after all.

lynnak said on November 26, 2009 at 7:12 PM

I'm from out of state, so am unfamiliar with this run, but most runs are for charity. Runners pay $20-100 for the privilege of helping others. To be slapped with a parking ticket while raising money for charity is a slap in the face, New Orleans.

exfire said on November 26, 2009 at 7:29 PM

The city has to find some way to replace all the money needed for Nagin's vacations !

billybear3 said on November 26, 2009 at 8:13 PM

If the law says don't park on the neutral ground, then the runners deserve the tickets. You can't break the law without a penalty DA!!!

billybear3 said on November 26, 2009 at 8:14 PM

seapath: Good riddance IDIOT!!!

popseal said on November 26, 2009 at 8:26 PM

This is not unlike the Katrina relief workers I hosted. They got parking tickets while touring the Quarter. The city is a third world kind of place. Visit somewhere else, live there for a while, then come back and feel the difference. I'd not go back to the places in N.O. I lived unless forced. America is too big, and beautiful in too many places, to waste one's tax dollars on nostalgia, to say nothing of risking one's safety in such an out of control place. If you have a nasty reaction to this opinion, take a walk on Franklin Ave. one evening.

johnny1943 said on November 26, 2009 at 8:34 PM

well... one thing is parking in a downtown area and/or hazardous area.. another thing is bussing (no pun intended) the 5-7 meter maids to the area for the specific purpose of targeting these runners that are running for a charity (in this case spina bifida).. this city has many problems.. others cities the police are helping people park and directing traffic.. No wonder census number keep going down and people continue to flock to other cities...

jennifer1 said on November 26, 2009 at 8:35 PM

Seapath: Really? Really? New Orleans may in fact be a corrupt city....but it has nothing to do with race. You are not only an embarrassment to the white race, you are an embarrassment to the human race. Pretty disgusting these racist things you are spewing...and by the way who f'd up Detroit: the white-run car companies...go rent 'Roger & Me' & educate yourself. Here are some African American leaders who are leading their respective cities/states/country well: Cory Booker (Newark), Barack Obama (our President), Deval Patrick (governor of Massachusetts & a Republican, which I suspect is the only party you like). It's sad you harbor these beliefs, I pray you don't have children to pass these disgusting ideas on to. Good luck with your KKK activities....the good news, you're on the right track: a one way ticket to hell!

happymeal said on November 26, 2009 at 8:36 PM

seapath is correct.

toady2000 said on November 26, 2009 at 9:18 PM

jennifer 1: Just to set the facts straight, Deval Patrick is a Democrat. His predecessor as governor of Massachussetts, Mitt Romney, was a Republican.

princess1208 said on November 26, 2009 at 9:21 PM

jennifer1: If you are trying to say the KKK is racist, the NAACP is NO different. You hear alot more about them stirring sh!# up in the media than the KKK. And if you think Obama is leading this country in the right direction, you are a total idiot!

getrealnow said on November 26, 2009 at 9:23 PM

jennifer1 are you serious? You really want to use Obama as an example? The person who is bankrupting this country? The person who is spending trillions of dollars more than we will collect in taxes? The person who is now being told by China he needs to rethink his spending? ARE YOU SERIOUS??? Our children will be paying off our debt for years to come. Wake up and realize Seapath is correct, and from the sounds of it, you are one of the people he was talking about.

2leggedzoo said on November 26, 2009 at 10:11 PM

When did parking tickets get to be about race?.. It is about meter maids getting overtime. Wait for Mardi Grs Day when they ticket on the St. Charles neutral ground.

passdahotsauce said on November 26, 2009 at 10:22 PM

8 YEARS of Bush did that duh. Now as far as parking stay off the neutral grounds, Just because cops are on a detail there,they are not parking attendants, At any black event they do not part on the netural grounds because they wait to tow them. Now if someone folks were under the impression that because of who they are and their cause and maybe skin color the law changes for them,sorry .Now at theses art galleries and bars on St. Claude they do park on the median and are not ticketed or towed , but at the bottom line they are towed in minutes. So consider yourselves lucky you are not getting your cars from under the Claiborne bridge. Thank You . THE PROJECTNOLA WAY.

johnny1943 said on November 26, 2009 at 10:26 PM

people dont really pay these tickets do they?? they flag your vehicle registration??

truthfull said on November 26, 2009 at 10:35 PM

Hey Clarence Ray, what you need another vacations payed for or better yet another secret dinner with the sanitation director payed for on the QT. The metor maids need to go along with the Mahor and most all of city hall.

mtbnathan said on November 26, 2009 at 10:58 PM

This NOPD action is pathetic. Bringing in meter cops on a holiday. Write your police dept. Complain! Complain about the waste of money; paying those meter cops to come out on Thanksgiving. PATHETIC. I feel their pain. I've lived here two years. I got one of these same tickets for watching the Krewe De Vieux parade. I parked on the Elysian Fields neutral grounds with hundreds of other cars. Was it the Wisconsin plates? If you want people to stay in NOLA, the police dept has got to be sensible. As for me, I'm moving back to Wisconsin. I love your history, the old shotguns, but the lack of safe streets is too much. Why don't your cops ticket for blinkers?! Raise money with legitimate violations. I counted 6 or 7 people not using their signals at one red light here; just for my own amusement.

rubberneck said on November 26, 2009 at 11:13 PM

If it has nothing to do with race, then why are the peeps always parked in front of the Zulu club never ticketed?

nsb008 said on November 26, 2009 at 11:28 PM

The city is bleeding money like a seive.There has been no accountability or oversight over the millions of dollars the city has received in aid or taxes.When will the people of the city wake up and vote out the people in city hall that keep on getting rich over the backs of the residents of the city.There are hundreds of reasons that people are moving out instead of moving back to New Orleans and that list of reasons start with the who the mayor and his cronies.When will the people of NO wake up and vote him out of office.Vote the corruption out so that NO can start to recover.Stupidity is defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. People need to wake up and realize that the city will never reach its potential as long as the current administration is in office. It is you, the people of New Orleans that are being nickled and dimed to death and will have no one to blame except yourselves as long as you let the current adminstration stay in office.

thetruth2009 said on November 26, 2009 at 11:30 PM

hey jennifer1.....Nice job throwing Cory Booker's name out there. There is only one problem with that. Newark is the 23rd most violent city in America. I live 10 miles from Newark. It's a dump with tons of gangs, murders and other violence. Just about every city in the top 25 for violent cities have black mayors. It's a well known fact. It's has nothing to do with being racist but rather a FACT. Black mayors http://allotherpersons.wordpress.com/2008/08/25/factoid-black-mayors-of-cities-with-population-over-50000/ crime rankings http://www.morganquitno.com/cit06pop.htm

cajundue said on November 26, 2009 at 11:40 PM

This is just your typical NOPD going after quick and easy money instead of fighting real crime and problems. I was once at a red light, NOPD patrol car on my right and when the light turned green for us. Not 1,2,or 3 but 4 cars went through the light. We both had to wait about 5 seconds for the cars to stop running the light before we could take off. I looked over at the cop and he had no intentions of stopping them. We had to stop for another light at the next block "none of the lights are synchronized in New Orleans either" and I rolled down my window and tapped my horn. He rolled his down and I asked him why he didn't do anything? He said that he had to many domestic calls to make and there is no time for simple traffic violations. This guy was so overweight that he resembled a fatter George Forman. I don't think he had the energy to get out a write a ticket if he had too.

castawayjjb said on November 26, 2009 at 11:58 PM

A & E was just filming for the new season of Parking Wars.

wallyhouston said on November 27, 2009 at 3:36 AM

I just paid my parking ticket online. I have to tell you what a wonderful high tech site they got. So I drove a couple weeks ago to spend my hard earned un-employment dollars in NO and stayed a couple days. I was so careful to park on the street forgot which one but was close to Harrahs and i got ticketed for being 8 ft from a fire hydrant. I measured it and it was 7.99ft. What a bunch of thieves. Get out of that dump all of you. Let it rot. Seriously, Let it rot with the corrupt, godless, satanic rulers.

genes61vetyahoo said on November 27, 2009 at 9:14 AM

what does the present police department do? write reports after crimes are commeted,and write tickets.they are not needed.the detectives and task forces arrests the same criminals over and over.what we need is a large prison in the swamp with alligators in a canal around it. maybe a 4t fence to keep the alligators out.and ajustice system that protects the people not criminals.

cbeauty said on November 27, 2009 at 10:00 AM

genes61vtyahoo I really like your idea. Then they really will know what fear is like. Also I bet the will not get out and be back on the street. This may even scare some people straight.

psychohurricane said on November 27, 2009 at 10:31 AM

what less could one expect from the chocolate city? i have seen meter maids lay in wait and as soon as a minor infraction happens they wait for the car driver to walk away then they will walk up to the car and start writing the ticket. i call it premeditated legal robbery

2leggedzoo said on November 27, 2009 at 10:36 AM

Now I get it. They had a race, people got parking tickets.

rubberneck said on November 27, 2009 at 10:44 AM

At the end of the day, this is the mayor of the chocolate city, shaking down on vanilla. Just proving he's "The Man"!

p_sanders442 said on November 27, 2009 at 12:42 PM

Yeah this is just like the city to do something like this.. I remember last year at voodoo fest they had several trucks towing people off of the neutral ground.. They ask people to come to new orleans for the festivals and games and when they come they get tickets or towed because of lack of parking, and other people like the dome want to charge 25$ just to park... This city is just ripping it's guests and own residents off.. No wounder people are not coming back to rebuild... The city is even talking about doing away with free parking on weekends.. I bet the city makes a killing on the Bayou Classic this weekend..

donnie1936 said on November 27, 2009 at 1:21 PM

JUST TELL ME WHY WHEN ZULU HAS MEETING AT THEIR HALL ON SOUTH CLAIBORNE AND THERE ARE CARS PARKED ALL OVER THE NEUTRAL GROUND, YOU DO NOT SEE THESE "METER JUNKIES" OUT GIVING TICKETS. MAYBE THEY ARE THERE TO SEE WHAT FLOAT A MAND IS ON -THEY PROBABLY SAY TELL ME YOUR FLOAT AND GIVE ME A COCONUT-I WILL NOT GIVE YOU A TICKET IF YOU DO. N.O.,LA HAS NOTHING BUT A BUNCH OF JERKS IN OFFICE.

jsmith5000 said on November 27, 2009 at 2:26 PM

seapath, Your false sense of racial superiority is quite amusing.

downnredy said on November 27, 2009 at 3:40 PM

In response to my radar tickets 7 X $ 185.00 each = $ 1295.00 ----------- Just for the month of June. Goodbye

angel19 said on November 27, 2009 at 4:04 PM

seapath is soooo right!

mrmystic said on November 27, 2009 at 11:31 PM

First and foremost, Princess 1208 People like u always want to compare the NAACP and the KKK. When have u ever known the NAACP to conduct LYNCHINGS,HANGINGS, an CROSSBURNINGS. For your comparison sweetie, you are a complete IDIOT! Learn about the history before you make such comments. SECONDLY, SEAPATH AND THE TRUTH, you two made a comment about BLACK MAYORS running cities to the ground and being the most violent cities in America. I don't know where you get your stats from, but I did a little research myself and I found at last count. TOP 15 MOST VIOLENT CITIES IN AMERICA. 8 white mayors, 6 black mayors, 1 hispanic mayor. SEEMS AS IF BLAME CAN GO IN ANY DIRECTION BUT YOU CHOOSE TO THROW BLACK FOLK (MAYORS) OUT YOUR MOUTH. IGNORANCE IS NOT ALWAYS BLISS. YOU BIGOTS AND RACIST FOOLS,I GUESS THAT'S HOW RUSH,GLEN, AND SEAN ARE ABLE TO PERSUADE YOU IDIOTS. Lastly, how did a story about POLICE OFFICERS giving tickets for illegal parking get to be about Black people are idiots?

brokeithx said on November 28, 2009 at 11:41 AM

When you allow corruption to continue for so long, with no intervention, a lot of people will feel what the less fortune been feeling for decades. Majority of those runners we're Whites, lets be real. Like one said, they've been breaking the law for Years, and nobody had a problem with it. Well, Blacks have been living here for Years, and when the police beat us, shoot us, kill us, rape us, and extort us, nobody had a problem with it. Well, say hello to the real world!!!

nolamike said on November 28, 2009 at 3:45 PM

mrmystic: You are so right! How the hell did a story about parking tickets get to black people are idiots? Wow! The lesson here is that race is a real issue here. The mayor's race will be interesting. I was hoping Feilkow would run because I wanted to see if blacks were ready for a white mayor. I would like to see a white mayor because I want change, but I have to admit, right now I kind of like Ed Murray. The problem is that the black political machine has been running the show here for too long and has left whites out, and white people are tired of it. It wouldn't be such an issue if the city wasn't so poorly run. They love their black mayor in Baton Rouge, whites and blacks alike. I just hope we can get someone to rally around

mitey1 said on November 28, 2009 at 4:33 PM

Once the pubic schools started veering from the original purpose of teaching the basics (reading, writing, math) and history, we were in trouble and it's been down hill every since. Math wasn't just so you could figure your own money, it was so the gov. couldn't rip you off without you knowing. History wasn't just the history of the U.S. it was about the world, the forms of gov. they had and previously had and why they were wrong/bad, so that people would know why a Republic was chosen for us and why we should keep it. Our kids spend 6 to 8 hours in school for most of the year, for 12 or more years and STILL can't understand why a Republic was chosen... and now they're being taught that we are a Democracy or Democratic Republic. YES, it has gone from education to indoctrination... That's why history will repeat itself, the fall of the US will closely resemble the fall of the Roman Republic and mostly because we LET it happen.

mitey1 said on November 28, 2009 at 4:49 PM

Most people don't know the difference between Capitalism, Free market, and Corporatism. or Socialism, communism, and fascism. Why? because we've let the words be twisted and added definitions that sometimes mean the total opposite of what they meant. Lines everywhere have been blurred and most don't care as long as, or until it interferes with their personal lives. Why? because that's how they've been "conditioned" to think. People actually think the political scale is "republican-------Center-------democrat" which is false. The middle is the Constitution (original meaning and intent minus the slavery and when everyone can vote) anything that calls for more gov./bigger gov. is on the left and anything that calls for less gov. (than with the original Constitution, etc.) is on the right. That's all you need to judge, but please take into account that we've moved so far left of center already and that's why we are where we are, and it's not good.

mitey1 said on November 28, 2009 at 5:00 PM

As for this article... I don't care how many years it was overlooked, or who else did it. You knew it was a no-parking zone, you saw the signs, no police or official gave approval (and probably wasn't asked), and you parked there anyway... now you have to pay. It's that plain and simple. BTW if this was such an important walk and for charity then why didn't anyone ask whether they could park there? Maybe if they had the police would've been helping instead of giving out tickets... just a thought.

mitey1 said on November 28, 2009 at 5:03 PM

Where'd my first post go?

ironpony said on November 29, 2009 at 7:19 PM

Why must everything turn into a racial thing. New Orleans has always had a problem with their meter maids and it is not racial. It seems as though the MM are called out for every special event and they are overzealious in doing their job but yet they can violate the parking regulations with their own vehicles. A few years back there was a big stink about parking on Canal St. in front of the building that housed the department that controls the MM. It seems as if the maids were moving the baracades and parking behinds them and then moving them back, saving the spaces for themselves. I was onced ticketed for parking on Broad St. next to the Parish Prison that had a sign that said NO PARKING from one date to another. The MM that gave me the ticket did not read the sign because the sign expired the day before. I promptly took pictures of where I was parked and cut the sign down and went to the Parking Bureau and complained. The lady there said in amazement, "you cut the sign down."

ironpony said on November 29, 2009 at 7:23 PM

I told her, sure I cut it down, it was no longer active. She had to agree and they void the ticket. If I hadn't done that, in the long run I would have had to pay for the ticket. There was no race involved. Just plain the MM trying to get someone and not reading.

carlan said on November 29, 2009 at 8:39 PM

David Bozart excused his behavior by saying that this has been going on for 20 years or more. Well, it is time the laws are inforced. Is it okay for anyone who has been parking on other peoples lawns (for years) be allowed to park on his lawn ? Since the laws were inforced, in this instance, I think they should be inforced everywhere, at all times. Today there was a "Second Line" on Claiborne Ave., starting at Louisiana Ave. and turning onto Washington Ave. Every inch of the neutral ground from Louisiana Ave. to 4th Street was covered by trucks and cars illegaly parked. NOT ONE VEHICLE WAS TICKETED FOR ILLEGAL PARKING OR DISTRUCTION OF PUBLIC PROPERTY. Do the participants and/or the neighborhood dictate whether or not laws are inforced ? Should the "Lady Buck Jumpers" "Second Line" parade get preferential treatment over a race in City Park ?

lazonia said on November 30, 2009 at 12:12 AM

mrmystic, you said a mouth full. Cowards get on the internet and blab about black people this, black people that....I am sick of these cowards. I bet none of you cowards would not talk that stuff to our face.

librasunnola said on November 30, 2009 at 12:06 PM

Same exact thing happened during the Oak Street Po-Boy Preservation Festival last weekend... Just around the corner (e.g. along Short St.), a bevy of new recruits to the enforcement squad was being trained to identify various parking infractions: For example, parking closer than 3 feet from a driveway, or facing the wrong way, etc. Oddly, as I followed them and overheard their questions to the woman in charge, it became clear none of the recruits knew basic parking-related ordinances for the City of New Orleans... such as the illegality of parking across a sidewalk. All of them were women in their mid-20's to early-30's. FYI, this job is NOT a function of NOPD. It is a privately-run company hired by the City to oversee parking enforcement, and they are driven by revenue incentives. However, it is fair to say New Orleans is pushing for increased revenues from this and other (formerly under-enforced) income streams, such as property tax collection.