As the oscillating lights of a police cruiser and the beams of a tow-truck neared, Tom Chan rushed out of his El Coqui Spanish Restaurant on Grand Avenue to find a $100 ticket on the windshield of his grey Nissan Frontier. His car was in the way of a push to clear main roads so New Haveners could return to work Wednesday.
It was night one of a two-night towing bender as New Haven entered the home stretch of getting streets back to normal in the wake of Winter Storm Nemo, which dumped an historic 34 inches of snow on the city.
Tow-truck drivers, cops and ticketers fanned out on major streets like Grand Tuesday night to enforce a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. parking ban to make room for the big trucks to widen roads that had previously been cleared just enough for emergency vehicles.
The city ended up needing to tow around 80 vehicles, according to city transportation czar Jim Travers.
The action continues Wednesday night. Parking is banned on the odd-numbered side of all roads in town, no matter how small, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., so the crews can finish the job. The city promises to tow all vehicles still on the way.
Unless owners get lucky like Tom Chan.
After expressing his dismay to a parking supervisor (click on the play arrow to the above video to watch their spirited tete-a-tete), he drove his Nissan into a nearby parking lot.
Crews towed four other vehicles parked at around 9 on Grand between Blatchley and Fillmore in a ten-minute period, as parking enforcement staff riding in a police cruiser summoned the tow trucks following behind them. It was zero tolerance for parked cars, and a field day for towing companies.
Allan Appel Photo
“We’ll see a lot of people pop out at the last minute,” said Willis.
Parking enforcement supervisor Ray Willis, who wrote Chan’s ticket, was riding in a police car driven by Officer Jose Luna and followed by a tow truck, with other tow vehicles hovering nearby.
Willis said the crew hadn’t towed any vehicles in his Fair Haven sector of the action until they got approximately to the area around the Christopher Columbus Family Academy. There, a Ford Econoline van, a Chevy 10, a Ford Focus, and a Honda all were tagged and received a not-so-free trip to the tow lots.
Chan’s surprise.
The “Code 74” or snow emergency violation carries a $100 fine if you pay right away, $200 after Feb. 27 and $250 if you pay after March 4.
Willis noted that the city offered ample noticing on the city website and other online locations. Chan, who said he does not use a computer, had not known of the warning. He pointed to a telephone pole nearby where he looks for paper notices to be posted, but none were for Tuesday night’s operation, Willis conceded.
Chan said he was parked out front, as he always was in the evening, because he drives in to pick up his employees at closing time.
Moments after the towing, a payloader driven by John Annatone of Cherry Hill Constructio, liberated more blacktop from tons of snow.
Willis told Chan that all tickets in New Haven can be appealed. During snow emergencies, the authorities tend to be more lenient.
Chan said he was going down to the Hall of Records in the morning to appeal and, if necessary, to pay. He was aghast at the price. “A hundred dollars!” he kept repeating.
Willis said four teams like his had been driving through the city between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.to inform people of the ban, including broadcasting the warnings in English and Spanish as they passed.
After the payloader, Andre Woods (right) followed in a small plow truck, then Albert Miller spread sand and salt.
Towing was essential because minutes behind the enforcement and towing troops the heavy equipment caravan followed: a payloader to scoop up the snow, two large dump trucks to receive and cart it off, followed by a smaller plow truck to tidy up and a vehicle to distribute sand and salt on the slippery, black-ice road surface. Those vehicles can’t pass roads blocked by parked cars.
Public works operator Albert Miller said his Fair Haven crew was taking the snow to a dump site on Marginal Drive off Route 34 by the Yale Bowl.
Chan moves his Nissan.