TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Bettina Giallanza, 33, of Lansingburgh, recently moved to the Capital Region from Florida. She said she was in for a rude welcome when she was ticketed by the city—and her neighbors towed—with almost no warning.
Giallanza lives near Jimmy’s Pizza and Hot dog Charlie’s, a couple streets east of the bridge to Van Schaick Island. Her Ring security camera footage, taken at around 8:10 a.m. and 8:46 a.m., paints a mysterious picture. Check out the earlier video:
At 8:09 a.m. there is no sign, but at 8:46 a.m.—with towing and ticketing already underway—a sign is there. Take a look:
The white vehicle in the footage was reportedly towed; Giallanza’s was not. Though she was ticketed for $50, she was able to move her car in time. She has contested the ticket with the city. She also insisted, upon reviewing her surveillance, that signage was not visible on Tuesday.
By the city’s official tally, 36 vehicles were towed on Wednesday morning. One Trojan said they saw cars towed three at a time. Here is a picture of one of the signs:
Word from Troy came that its “no parking” signs do not have to be posted 24 hours before enforcement begins. In fact, as long as they are posted the day before—meaning any time on Tuesday—they are in compliance. The city said that signs instructing residents not to park were attached to trees and added to curbs to make way for spring street cleaning and that they had spread the word ahead of time through social media and digital alerts.
On Wednesday, the Department of Public Works was supposed to clean the even side of all streets from 118th Street to 108th Street, from the Hudson River to the Uncle Same Bike Trail. Even so, the city said, on some of those streets, signage was removed overnight. Street cleaning ticketing, and towing took place wherever the signs were intact, the city said.
They said that new no parking signs were put out where they’d been removed by vandals, and that street cleaning, towing, and ticketing were delayed on those streets. New signs were reportedly put back up in advance of resumed street cleaning on Thursday at several locations:
- 110th Street
- 9th Ave, from 110th Street to 112th Street
- 8th Ave, from 113th Street to 109th Street
- 7th Ave, from 109th Street to 111th Street
- 6th Ave, from 108th Street to 113th Street
These locations do not correspond to the street pictured in the Ring video. Any vandalism or theft would not seem to explain the sudden appearance of the signage in that surveillance footage.
“Parking enforcement uses cameras to help ensure that wrongful towing does not take place,” said Troy spokesperson Frank Sainato. He provided a photo snapped by a city worker that featured the signage in place in Giallanza’s neighborhood.
For her part, Giallanza’s said that the signs where she live were gone again by around 10 a.m. She said a street sweeper finally come through nearly two hours later.
