April 22
...serving up your daily dish.
The most interesting section in the Montclair Times is Letters from Readers. This week was no exception. We feel for these folks who experienced Montclair the hard way...
Last Friday, two couples from Tenafly went to Montclair for dinner and a movie. What started as a lovely evening turned into a nightmare.
We arrived at the Clearview Cinema for the 8 p.m. showing. My friend and I set out to park the car, and following the “Municipal Parking” signs, we pulled into the South Fullerton lot. We parked on the upper left side against a stone wall. When the movie ended at 10:30 p.m., we retraced our steps, but could not find the car. While searching for it a very nice lady asked us what happened and we explained our problem.
“Oh,” she said, “your car was either stolen or towed, because this side of the lot is ‘permit-only’ parking.”
We called the police and found out that the car had just been towed by the private hauler. We called the hauler immediately, but only the cleaning person answered. Indeed, the car had just been brought in, but now the hauler was locked for the night. The only way back to Tenafly was by taxi to the tune of $55 plus tip.
The next morning, my husband and I set out for Montclair again. In order to retrieve the car, we paid $100 for towing plus $50 for two days’ storage.
We checked the parking lot during daylight and my husband agreed that there was no sign that clearly identified the permit-only parking spaces. The space we had used had neither a number nor a sign on it.
Are you purposely trying to scare people away from Montclair? May I suggest that when a sign directs to “municipal parking,” it also clearly states that part of the lot is “permit parking only”?
We felt most unwelcome in your town.
Sorry to hear Montclair left a bad taste in your mouth. To that end, Baristanet plans to track Rosemarie and her pals down and invite them to our bash. We'll even valet park their car in an appropriate spot. Maybe Dick Grabowsky will step up to the plate and pay their tow fee? One thing left unanswered: what movie did they see? We're guessing they came all the way to Montclair for an art-house flick.
April 22, 2005 in Only in Montclair | Permalink
I like your offer of "restitution" for these people. But can other party attendees get valet parking. Say, in the Chase lot? Can we even park there on a Monday night? But a taxi rate of $55 all the way to northern Bergen County sounds cheap.
Posted by: cathar | Apr 22, 2005 10:51:02 AM
Some years ago (maybe four or five) there was an article in the Montclair Times that explained the whole "Permit Parking" scenario. If I remember correctly, if the sign reads "Permit Parking" only and it is after business hours you can park there. If the sign reads "24 hour Permit Parking" the space is completely off limits. With the current parking situation (the missing Crescent Lot and the monopoly Rascals has on the S. Fullerton deck) one is better of staying at home and ordering Chinese food and Pay-For-View.
Posted by: caris drury | Apr 22, 2005 11:00:23 AM
I saw this letter and it made me very angry.
Yes, the signs should be clearer. But what burned me up most is the hassle the peole had to go through to get their damn car back! I mean, even if it's proven that they were in the wrong (knowingly or unknowingly), they shouldn't have had to jump through bureaucratic hoops to get their car back! A $55 cab fare might seem like inexpensive to some but add it to all of the other costs they had to incur. And, if a towing place is in the business of towing people's cars at all hours, someone should be there round the clock if someone wants to retrieve his or her car.
Do you remember those bumper stickers from a few years back? "Shop Montclair, It's Beyond Compare"? What hypocracy! For a town that wants to attract upscale shoppers, diners, movie-goers, whatever, it sure isn't making any effort to roll out the welcome mat.
Posted by: Miss Martta | Apr 22, 2005 11:12:17 AM
Miss Martta, if you've ever known someone who had to bail their car out in NYC, or had to do it yourself, rest assured that Montclair is comparatively very gentle in this matter. (The apparatchiks at least speak discernible English in Montclair, that isn't necessarily the case in NYC even if the civil servants were in fact born in Queens.) Whether it should have happened? I don't know, I wasn't there. I do know that it's equally likely to happen in town whether you're a "local" or from Bergen County. And of course there's probably also a parking ticket attached to all the other costs. Perhaps there will be a "golden age" past all this next winter, when the new parking facility is finished. In the meantime, however, what can someone do by way of getting home save walk, call a friend or call a cab? I just doubt the cops consider where you reside when handing out a ticket, that's all. If this one still rankles, buttonhole Mayor Remsen 5/9, but you probably ought to expect to wait in line on that one.
Posted by: cathar | Apr 22, 2005 11:28:05 AM
I really should rent out my driveway, I could make some serious dough.
Posted by: Chris | Apr 22, 2005 11:37:00 AM
I've even heard business owners tell people they can park in that lot and that the permits aren't in effect right now b/c of the construction, etc!
Perhaps the town needs to work on better signage and also making sure everyone is informed. You would think if you went to the top parking level and it's almost completely empty that you just got a good "find". How would you know, given how everything is so changed around, that it was off-limits.
THey should have gotten a ticket, not a tow. That's extreme!
Posted by: butchcjg | Apr 22, 2005 11:53:40 AM
"THey should have gotten a ticket, not a tow. That's extreme!"
ITA...towing should be a last resort.
Posted by: Miss Martta | Apr 22, 2005 11:57:21 AM
Yes, towing should be a last resort..ESPECIALLY because of the crazy circumstances of the downtown parking and how everything is changed around and confusing.
Posted by: butchcjg | Apr 22, 2005 11:58:50 AM
"Ed's coming to the party?!"
Maybe incognito after reading this thread. LOL.
Seriously, I've met him and he seems like a reasonable guy (plus he's a runner like myself so he can't be all bad!) I don't think the burden should fall on him entirely. I lived in Montclair for almost half my life and it's ALWAYS been a town of over-zealous meter and parking attendants. Where do they get THEIR directives from? That's where our energies should be directed.
I agree with the other posters here who say that the current construction has just made matters worse. But as far back as I can remember, parking has always been a problem in town, even for people like myslef who owned both day and night parking permits.
Occasionally, I would come home and non-permit cars would be parked in the permit spaces (usually Diva nightclubbers). Nothing was ever done about this to my knowledge. Also, whenever it snowed, the brainiacs working the snowplows would constantly plow snow into the permit spaces, making them unusable.
Posted by: Miss Martta | Apr 22, 2005 12:18:27 PM
I live so close, I can walk. So maybe others can just find street parking by nearby homes, assuming they'll move their cars before 2:00am.
Unfortunately, Montclair has some poorly marked signs on part of my street, Forest Street, regarding 'R' & 'C' permit parking, while other parts of Forest Street are open parking.
The signs don't list the hours. 'R' is reserved 24/7. I've seen out of town visitors very upset when ticketed on a Sunday assuming parking was open.
As someone said before, we're not rolling out the welcome map!
Posted by: jeffersonjazz | Apr 22, 2005 12:31:02 PM
I agree with lovely Ms. Martta. Towing is extreme. Most of the people parking in that lot (from my experience) aren't there for the entire day. They want to grab a crepe or whatever from Suzettes and be on their way.
I parked there a few weeks ago and realized as soon as I locked my car that the reason all those spaces were open was because they were permit only spots. I quickly found another spot 4 blocks away!
off topic but I miss the days when South Park didn't charge a cover just to get in on the weekend. Times are changing, huh?
Posted by: delicious dish | Apr 22, 2005 1:15:13 PM
"off topic but I miss the days when South Park didn't charge a cover just to get in on the weekend."
I was not aware of this. What are they offering that's so great that warrants a cover? Please don't tell me a deejay or karaoke.{{{{{{{{{SHUDDER}}}}}}}}}}
Posted by: Miss Martta | Apr 22, 2005 1:22:39 PM
*Sometimes* there is karaoke on the weekend. I went there one Friday night and was asked by a cop to pay $10.00 at the door. They will not let you in if you don't pay the cover. It wasn't as if there was a live band that night or anything. Had there been a band I would have understood the cover charge.
I am now wondering if they only charge a cover after a certain hour. I didn't think to ask at the time.
I'm kind of tired of making such generous donations to Montclair whether it be in the form of a parking ticket (meter ran over 2 minutes!!!!) or a cover charge for a bar that is apparently very happening & overcrowded on the weekend.
Posted by: delicious dish | Apr 22, 2005 1:30:06 PM
"Delicious dish" and "Miss Martta" may be appalled but in Manhattan (which I sometimes think Montclair aspires to, at least the Upper West Side part of it) clubs have been getting a lot higher door charge than $10 for many, MANY years. For, yep, no live bands, just the chance to jostle sweatily against each other. This is why I prefer much more downscale-type places, like the Great Notch Inn on Rte. 46.
Posted by: cathar | Apr 22, 2005 1:40:11 PM
I lived in Montclair and I left. Sounds like you might need valet parking the night of the Barista Bash or get the Mayor to give out "Get out of towing FREE cards".
Posted by: PAZ | Apr 22, 2005 1:50:14 PM
Love the Great Notch Inn!
Yeah, I don't happen to have a problem paying a cover to see a decent band but just to "jostle and mingle with the sweaty masses?" Nah...just give me Chinese take-out and a good DVD.
Posted by: Miss Martta | Apr 22, 2005 1:55:47 PM
Yes, towing is an extreme & hostile measure. I'm quite disapointed that our town's elected officials' answer to the Crescent situation has amounted to a glib shrug of the shoulders. The BID has taken some action & the Parking Authority has also contributed some.
On another note: RASCAL'S HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FULLERTON GARAGE!!!! They lease & operate the Chase surface lot adjacent to Sushi Hana.
The Fullerton Valet service is for the public & operates Thurs, Fri & Sat p.m. During other hours the upper decks are open to two hour free public parking, effective, April 1, 2005.
Posted by: Greg | Apr 22, 2005 2:06:16 PM
I love the Great Notch Inn too!
*whispers*
I think I have a crush on Ms. Martta. ;)
*tosses Martta a take out menu*
Posted by: delicious dish | Apr 22, 2005 2:26:04 PM
"Occasionally, I would come home and non-permit cars would be parked in the permit spaces (usually Diva nightclubbers). Nothing was ever done about this to my knowledge."
...yeah, i sure know about that! sometimes i have to sit in my lot for 15 minutes just to wait for a spot to open up. i knew this going in, but still...not fun. :\
plus, i didn't know SP charges a cover. come the weekend, i tend to avoid that place, also Jake's. i like them, but i also like space and the ability to hear who i'm talking to.
Posted by: E. | Apr 22, 2005 3:06:46 PM
that poor couple from tenafly. it's an outrage that they were towed unless their car posed some danger, such as blocking an exit, or unless it was indisputably and clearly marked as a towaway zone. a ticket would have been more than enough, and even that seems ridiculous when we are trying so hard to keep business here in town. to tow the car and then make it unavailable until the next day and then charge them for two days towing? can this town really find anyway to justify that behavior? that qualifies to me as bureaucratic abuse. i hope the couple continues to make a lot of noise about that towing. i would be pretty outraged too, if that happened to me.
Posted by: fran | Apr 22, 2005 3:59:48 PM
I think there is a difference between clubs and bars/lounges ... clubs charge $20/person in the cities and once you are hand-picked by the doorman to get past the velvet ropes you get access to an exclusive environment with extravagant lighting, unique interior designs, and dance music usually by a star dj ... bars and lounges, on the other, do not charge for admission nor have a doorman (its open to all), hence the more laid-back atmosphere you usually find ... places like Diva Lounge, Just Jakes, and South Park are bars and lounges and should not be charging for admission, unless its for a live entertainment appearance ... I'll also mention that Richie Cecere's has a live jazz band every Saturday night and I don't recall having to pay a cover charge for admission there ...
Posted by: Miami Jim | Apr 22, 2005 4:21:42 PM
I think there is a difference between clubs and bars/lounges ... clubs charge $20/person in the cities and once you are hand-picked by the doorman to get past the velvet ropes you get access to an exclusive environment with extravagant lighting, unique interior designs, and dance music usually by a star dj ... bars and lounges, on the other, do not charge for admission nor have a doorman (its open to all), hence the more laid-back atmosphere you usually find ... places like Diva Lounge, Just Jakes, and South Park are bars and lounges and should not be charging for admission, unless its for a live entertainment appearance ... I'll also mention that Richie Cecere's has a live jazz band every Saturday night and I don't recall having to pay a cover charge for admission there ...
Posted by: Miami Jim | Apr 22, 2005 4:23:26 PM
"off topic but I miss the days when South Park didn't charge a cover just to get in on the weekend."
Speaking of new places...I was picking up some takeout at Tuptim and saw a new restaurant nearby with a reggae theme, including a live band...
Don't think they were charging a cover either...
Rastafarah!
Posted by: Pam | Apr 22, 2005 7:06:19 PM
