Got a ticket on 5th Ave in Park Slope for blocking a pedestrian ramp, but I’m honestly confused. There’s no painted crosswalk or curb markings—just an old curb cut with the paint worn down to nothing. The ticket says 'pedestrian ramp' but I was parked at what I thought was a normal curb. I took a bunch of photos. Has anyone fought one of these and won? I’ve never done an NYC parking hearing. Do I have to go in person? The back of the ticket just says I can request a hearing online. Is it even worth trying, or do they always side with the ticket?

Faded paint can help, but make sure you’re seeing the actual violation. Pedestrian ramp usually means the curb cut at a corner, not a random dipped curb. If your bumper was over the slope, it's still a violation. That said, I've had a buddy beat one because the curb wasn't marked and the street view showed no accessible ramp symbols. Don't just pay it before the deadline—schedule a hearing and upload the photos. Online hearing is easier than you think, but don't admit to 'blocking' anything. Just say the prohibited area wasn't clearly marked.

The curb cut vs. crosswalk thing drives me crazy! People lose because they say 'there was no paint' but the judge is only looking at the curb geometry. If the spot had the sloped curb and a flared side, they treat it as a ramp! But here's the good part—if the paint was worn away and the street was recently milled or repaved, you have a real inadequate notice defense. Have you checked Google Street View history? That can show the condition on the date of the ticket! Also, was there a tactile warning pad (the bumpy yellow strip)? That's sometimes the deciding detail. If there was no tactile strip, definitely bring it up!!

This happened to me in Bay Ridge once and I just paid it because I was scared of late fees. Now I wish I'd looked it up. There's a whole earlier thread, 'Move-in fee plus security and first month—management calls it admin but won't itemize?': Move-in fee plus security and first month—management calls it admin but won't itemize?. For yours, maybe dumb question but can you use Google Street View as evidence in a web hearing? I'm new to this and didn't know you could upload screenshots. Do they actually look at them? Also, how long after the ticket do you have to schedule the hearing? Good luck!

I've fought a few of these. The key is to stop framing it as 'I thought it was a normal curb.' If your front bumper extended into the sloped portion of the curb cut, that's usually a violation—even if the paint is gone. What you want to argue is that the city didn't give you clear enough notice to know where the prohibited area began or ended. The painted boundary and tactile warning strips are part of that notice.

Here's what I would gather:

Photos with timestamps. One from directly behind the car showing the whole block face, one close-up of the worn curb, one showing the corner distance, and one of the tire marks if any.

Street View archive. If it shows the same lack of paint before your ticket, include the date in the screenshot. That counters the claim that you somehow wore it away.

DOT or sidewalk map reference. If the curb can't be clearly identified as an accessible pedestrian ramp—no flared sides, no detectable warning surface—that's strong.

At the hearing, don't say 'I was only there a minute' or 'everyone parks there.' Say: 'Based on the markings present, I couldn't reasonably identify this as a prohibited pedestrian ramp.' The worst case is usually the ticket is sustained and you pay, but many of these get dismissed or reduced to a lesser fine. It's worth one web hearing slot.

Thanks for all this. MurrayHill_M, I did schedule the web hearing—it was actually pretty easy. astoria_arch, the curb has flared sides but no tactile bumps and no paint. I found a Street View shot from the spring showing the same thing. RiverdaleRambler, I checked and the whole block was repaved last fall, so the paint probably never came back. DykerNewbie, don't beat yourself up; I nearly paid too. Now I'm second-guessing because I moved the car before the ticket was on the windshield. Does that matter? The photos are after I moved, so they show the curb but not my bumper. Is that a problem?

The after-the-fact photos are not a dealbreaker, but you have to be careful! You don't need to prove where your bumper was if you're arguing the marking itself was inadequate. That's the whole point: the city can't ticket you for an invisible line. If the repaving removed the paint and they never re-marked it, that's a huge maintenance gap! Were there any NO STOPPING or NO STANDING signs? If the only evidence of the restriction was the paint, then the city's own repaving project destroyed it. Print three copies of every photo—including the Street View screenshots with the date bar. In a web hearing, you can hold them up to the camera. And please update us on the result! I'm invested now!