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AAA: Drivers More Likely To Get Ticketed In So-Called 'Hot Spots' Throughout NYC

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- No, it's not just in your head. New Yorkers are increasingly being ticketed.

In fact, more than nine million tickets are handed out each year, and that's parking violations alone. Believe it or not, there are certain spots where you're more than likely to get that dreaded red envelope.

The corner of 39th Street and Third Avenue is the number one location for tickets in the Big Apple, where agents doled out more than 10,000 violations in 2017.

"At rush hour, this is a main route heading into the 59th Street Bridge," Robert Sinclair from AAA said. "Unfortunately, people get into the intersection not realizing they can't make it completely through and they get cited."

Siad Ladu is one of those people. Traffic enforcement agents issued him nearly $2,000 in summonses last year, he says, for all sorts of infractions including blocking the box.

"I lost a lot of money," the cabbie told CBS2.

It's not the only spot where he believes they lay in waiting. To find out just how bad it is, AAA sorted through online city records to find the most ticketed addresses or just about every imaginable parking violation.

Locations like One Penn Plaza on 33rd between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, the top location for the top violation -- no standing. Agents handed out nearly 1,300 no standing tickets on the block to drivers like delivery man Darwin Comacho.

"All the time," he said. "All the time."

Part of the time, says Sinclair, is the street itself.

"It's two-way, but it's not a through street," he said. "There is a pedestrian plaza and mall and you have to turn around and exit."

70th Avenue between Austin Street and Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills is another problem street. It's where more than 1,200 tickets were given out -- for no parking infractions.

"When you're looking around here it can be a little confusing," Sinclair says of the intersection. "You got some arrows pointing the same direction and in other signs we got arrows pointing in both directions."

The number one ticketed location for blocking a bus stop is 204 Livingston St. in Downtown Brooklyn. If you violate alternate side of the street parking rules at 50 Parkside Ave. in Prospect Park, expect to get a ticket.

You're more likely to get caught double parking outside of 375 Lexington Ave. Meanwhile, drivers are likely to find themselves writing a big check to the city for failing to place a muni-reader receipt on their dashboard or letting it expire inside the Sunnyside Municipal lot.

"It works out to nearly $300 million in revenue," Sinclair said.

AAA isn't saying the city is unfairly ticketing drivers. The majority of the time, it says, they're in the wrong for either ignoring or not reading the signs correctly. They will, however, bring any particularly confusing signage to the city's attention.

Below is a full list of the city's most ticketed locations, courtesy of AAA:

BLOCKING THE BOX:

East 39th Street and 3rd Ave = 10,157 tickets

East Fordham Road & Marion Ave = 7,500

Thompson Street & Watts = 4,170

 

NO STANDING:

One Penn Plaza = 1,292

80 Broad Street = 1,284

75 Broad Street = 1,147

 

BUS STOP:

204 Livingston Street = 1,256

520 8th Avenue = 785

412 8th Avenue = 738

 

NO PARKING:

106-20 70th Avenue = 1,253

263 7th Avenue = 944

88-40 164th Street = 840

 

ALTERNATE SIDE PARKING:

50 Parkside Avenue = 388

50 Parkside Avenue = 295 (on the opposite side of the street)

89-11 153 Street = 282

 

EXCEEDING ALLOWED TIME:

Sunnyside Municipal Lot = 3,658

Flushing Municipal Lot = 1,641

Steinway Municipal Lot = 981

 

NO MUNI METER RECEIPT:

Sunnyside Municipal Lot = 3,726

Flushing Municipal Lot = 1,277

Belmont Municipal Lot = 1,104

 

HYDRANT:

21-57 Borden Avenue = 173

80 Willoughby Street = 143

135-18 37th Avenue = 136

 

DOUBLE PARKING:

421 8th Avenue = 552

1450 2nd Avenue = 533

1550 3rd Avenue = 500

 

DOUBLE PARKING IN MIDTOWN:

375 Lexington Avenue = 611

450 7th Avenue = 558

4 Penn Plaza = 545

 

BIKE LANE:

2328 12th Avenue = 283

751 2nd Avenue = 249

118 West 39th Street = 221

 

CROSSWALK:

7th Avenue & West 33rd Street = 566

6th Avenue & West 33rd Street = 468

8th Avenue & West 31st Street = 247

 

SIDEWALK:

21-57 Borden Avenue = 797

161 West 35th Street = 325

21-51 Borden Avenue = 290

 

SAFETY ZONE:

11 Penn Plaza = 390

433-89 44th Drive = 385

76 9th Avenue = 385

 

PEDESTRIAN RAMP:

40th Avenue east of 184th Street = 31

1448 East Avenue = 24

1560 Grand Concourse = 24

 

BLOCKED DRIVWAY:

2760 Decatur = 48

3965 Sedgwick Avenue = 39

86-80 76th Street = 25

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