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There are some nice Portuguese restaurants on Kearny Ave. I think it's still East Newark, although it could be Kearny already.

I worked in EN for two years. There was a nice Peruvian restaurant called Ay Calamari! on Kearny that served very good fresh seafood and cheap Chilean wine. A win-win. Restaurants tend to be smaller in EN and Kearny and have more neighborhood feel compared to those across the river in Ironbound. There is a good italian restaurant on Harrison Ave called La Fiamma. Best linguini with white clam sauce I ever had.

Funny!

So are there any good eats in this god forsaken place?

Though the population is about 70% white, Wiki says 10% of East Newark's residents are Peruvian Americans (the highest percentage of Peruvians anywhere in the United States) -- 6% of residents are Brazilian Americans (the highest percentage of Brazilian American people in any place in the United States) -- and at 7.67% of residents being of Ecuadorian ancestry (it has the highest percentage of Ecuadorian people anywhere in NJ)

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East Newark actually has a court? Is the judge also the mayor, and the town cop and the fireman? Is it really a real place? I have never met anyone who actually lives in East Newark. I forget it even exists until someone mentions the name. In fact, I forget about all of west Hudson Co. on the other side of the Hackensack river. It's like in another dimension. It's in Hudson Co but it isn't. It wants to be in Bergen or Essex but it can't. The PATH even goes there, to Harrison, but nobody ever gets off or on there. The Pulaski Skyway was actually built so that people could fly right over west hudson and land directly in Newark. It's true.

Well, I just got back from court. After waiting through a bunch of people (almost all in shorts/jeans and a T-shirt) with serious moving violations and dumb stuff like no insurance or defunct registration, etc, I was a little relieved that the judge was being very nice to people, reducing their offenses, giving them ample time to pay, etc...

For me, his demeanor switched to annoyed instantly; after reading the paper, he asked "So...go on. Tell me *your* 'story'". I told him (as outlined in this thread). He said not seeing the sign is no excuse, he's finding me guilty, and I have to pay in full today. He never even asked me how I plead, or if I could pay in full today (not that it's a problem - but he asked both questions of everyone else). I was also the only one to get admonished: "I hope the $254 stings enough so that you don't do this again." I was well-dressed, well-spoken, and respectful. I guess since that wasn't the norm, it's not ok.

Bottom line is that it was the 2nd highest fine of the day. I bumped into someone else from the courtroom later in the parking lot and she said "Man, he really got you!".

Guess fasteddie was right with his post on page-1...

with parking tickets the only thing you can do is adjourn the date to get more time to come up with your evidence and etc. they don't allow you attorneys, there's no prosecutor, just the judge. just sign up at the end of the line so you can watch how other people behave and how the judge reacts to photos and etc.

these were things announced by the judge in her opening statement. nobody has the right to an attorney. courtroom #6 is for parking tickets, the other courts are for moving violations. people are separated so you don't waste much time.

i sat in court in east newark once with a friend who got 2 tickets in one night...what a pain waiting through testimonies of people for domestic disputes, owed money, moving violations, parking tickets... we were there almost 4 hours.

i was in an out of jersey city's courtroom in 45 minutes.

you have to plead not guilty to explain. just do it, the worst that could happen is that they find you guilty and tack on a court cost. it's worth the shot if you can get out of the fine. trust me, it was the biggest sigh of relief i've had in months not having to pay that fine because i'm broke.

Thanks for all the suggestions and info.

Going to observe is a good idea - unfortunately my court-date is this afternoon. I'll print out a photo of the spot (with no painted curb).

But, I'd still rather just get it over with. So what's the deal? Are my options basically as follows:
1) Plead Guilty and get no chance to explain, and simply pay the fine and leave.
2) Plead Not Guilty, explain my situation (hopefully in the same day), and maybe get my fine reduced, but also maybe get a trial date some other day necessitating another court appearance...

Is that about right, or do I still get to explain if I plead guilty?

My parents gave me a great idea. You don't have to have a case to sit in on traffic court so it may be a good idea to just sit in one night and listen to testimonies and how the judge reacts while building your testimony. It will probably help tremendously. I was extremely nervous while doing mine since I was called up after 3 people adjourned due to having their photos on cell phone cameras. I came prepared enough with good enough proof of an honest parking mistake. I really wish you luck.

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It's a pain in the butt, I know, I've been there. Not for parking in a handicapped spot, but for leaving my car on the street for more than three days (down at the shore, Bay Head specifically). Walking to the towing yard to get my car and paying the towing charge in cash was only the beginning of the aggravation. The ticket I was given by the police was for an "abandoned vehicle" charge, which apparently is a violation of state law and not local municipal code. I would assume that parking illegally in a handicapped spot is also governed by state law and that's why you have to appear in court. I asked the people in Bay Head over the phone if I could just pay the fine by check or cash and they said no, there is no set fine for this offense, although the judge usually imposes $100, so you have to appear. I wasn't too happy about having to appear and now that I am aware of the abandoned vehicle law in New Jersey, taking a day off work serves as a much more adequate deterrent than the monetary fine.

If Jersey City court operates like most municipal courts in this state (I've never been) where they deal with minor traffic offenses and things like public drunkenness what will happen is they will separate the people with lawyers from the people without lawyers. The people with lawyers will go negotiate with the prosecutor(s) out in the hallway while the judge is calling off the names of people without lawyers and asking how they plead (and nothing else). The people with lawyers will have their pleas negotiated down to lesser charges. Then the judge will read off the names of people with lawyers who have by now gotten their charges reduced but more importantly gotten to the "front of the line" so to speak and can get out of the courtroom more quickly. The judge will read the reduced charge and impose the punishment (i.e. the fine) and then you can go pay the clerk and be on your way. As it happens, I'm a lawyer so I was able to represent myself, spoke to the prosecutor, spoke maybe three sentences before he agreed to downgrade my charge to a municipal code violation and got in and out the courtroom quickly.

Otherwise you sit and wait until the judge gets back to the people who are not represented by lawyers and the people who pled guilty get their punishments imposed while the people who pled not guilty have their trials and sometimes the trials have to be scheduled for another day depending how long everything took. So at that point, pleading guilty will get you out of there faster.

If you don't want to wait so long and your time is more valuable to you then having to wait for the judge to get through all the represented people before he can talk to you, pay a lawyer to show up and talk to the prosecutor. It will cost you considerably more than that $250 fine but paying a lawyer in this instance is not about saving money rather it is so you can get in and out of there quicker.

I gotta say, watching the other people plead, having their punishments imposed and hearing minor details about their cases when they were questioned by judge was quite a hoot and I almost didn't want to leave after the judge imposed my fine and court fees totaling $50. Go figure... I was more than willing to pay $100 ahead of time, but they had to haul me into court to tell me I had to pay half of that. Oh wait... my charge was downgraded from the state offense to a municpal charge. A lawyer friend of mine told me that municipalities only get to keep 25% of the fines imposed on people breaking state laws whereas they get to keep ALL of the fines imposed on people for municipal code violations. I guess that 25% of $100 is less than 100% of $50.

Hope this helps. Good luck! Oh, and wear a suit to court. I couldn't believe the number of people I saw in shorts and
t-shirts and the judge was definitely harder on them.

Ask the judge if he/she tried to scam their parking tickets like the other ones in JC..ya never know! Maybe they will just late it slide by. LOL

CONGRATS CROFT!!!

To ANYONE who has gotten a parking ticket for unknowingly parking in handicapped spots at Shop Rite & BJ's, you CAN beat these tickets. I DID. Today, 8/7, I went to court to fight a ticket for parking in an unmarked and improperly posed handicapped spot. For one, I am not lazy, nor did I try to cut corners, so before those insults and accusations come, it was something unintentional. I thought it was a regular spot as it was unmarked, ran into Shop Rite for some mussels for my job, and came outside to a ticket requiring a court appearance. Luckily, I learned fairly young to always keep a camera in the car. That camera saved me $250-300 in fines and court costs. The parking spots in between BJ's and Shop Rite are not properly marked. They list the old fine of $100 which has changed as of a few years ago. According to the state law, the establishment must change the signs in accordance with the amendment within 12 months. The signs are in portable cement filled buckets, and can be moved from spot to spot. Some of the signs are laying on the ground. The blue lines are faded into white and are barely noticeable. Basically, I took photos just minutes after I got the ticket. The judge dismissed my charges based on the provided photo evidence of the lack of signs, blue paint, and penalties posted, as well as the fact that the signs were movable (illegal) and could be tipped over or even used to mark non designated areas. Hopefully this will help in the future for others who have been ticketed and taken advantage of in this parking lot. One other thing I'd like to point out is that the judges are no longer accepting camera phones and digital cameras to view proof of evidence. They now require you to print everything onto photo paper where it is clear and visible. I watched 3 people prior to my case seek an adjournment so that they could get their evidence in order. Come prepared, be professional (dress nice, they tend to pay more attention to your case, and be polite), and be confident. <3 your friend croft

i bet you that the parking authority needs to meet their quota so they hit up the private lots. most of the time, people just want to pay the fine and get it over with. there is a lot to be fought here for anyone who has gotten a ticket in this way. in the case of their improperly posted "reserved parking" signs with no posted fines/penalties, or even postings on the particular spots, i guess that is just working on the honor system in the same way as the pregnant lady spots....yet they find any way to milk a ticket out of you.

Can the City ticket or tow somebody for parking in a private parking lot handicapped spot? I thought that was a private matter between the business owner and the person parking, and that the city only issues the citations for parking along a city-issued curbside handicapped spot.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Also, I don't think the "pregnant" spots are in any way enforceable, and work on the honor system only.

Unfortunately, a parking ticket is a black-and-white issue of rules, not justice.

There are healthy people without handicapped placards on their vehicles who may occasionally or mistakenly use a reserved parking space. That offense is punishable by a fine and (apparently) a court appearance. On the other hand, there are far more healthy-but-obviously-lazy people with handicapped placards who occupy reserved parking spaces every day and I don't believe that offense is punishable at all.

Nice.

the spots between shop rite and bj's are not properly marked. the lines are not properly painted, the fines are posted in the wrong amount, the signs were laying on the ground for over a month, and the parking authority are the ones responsible for writing tickets there, even though metro plaza is considered to be a private lot.

so what do they do now, ticket every non pregnant looking person who parks in those expecting mothers only spots?

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You have way too much time on your hands.....'

CK

Do like our esteemed politicians do when they get caught with their hands in the cookie jar - please stupidity, I mean ignorance.

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There is a reason why you must appear in court for this violation. If it was just about the money, they would let you pay by mail. Oh, you WILL pay the fine but that's not the half of it. I must say I don't envy you, it will be a most unpleasant experience. You see, in the local judges' minds, there is nothing lower on the face of this earth than a person who parks in a handicapped space. You would have been better off had you robbed an old lady of her life savings or murdered several nuns. It is actually quite an event in the municipal court, I have seen it. The workers from the court offices usually come to watch. The judge will prepare his speech the night before. They usually bus in several handicapped people from local hospitals and nursing homes. The judge usually begins with "DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?" "HOW...COULD....YOU?" "HOW ....COULD...YOU?". This will go on for maybe 45 minutes during which time the angry handicapped crowd behind you will jeer and throw rotten vegetables and dog feces at you (don't wear good clothes). The judge will end his rant with "NOW GET OUT OF MY COURTROOM!!!". As you skulk out of the courtroom, the incensed handicapped mob will spit at you and kick and slap you if they have arms and legs. So yeah, it's gonna be pretty damn ugly.

More likely, the fine is based on the number of times you violated this law. They want you to go to court so that if you plead guilty or are found guilty, they can give you the appropriate fine based on your history.

i think they force you to appear because generally if you park in a handicapped spot (on purpose), you're an a**hole and they want you to be inconvenienced as you inconvenienced the person who's spot it was....

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If they just want you to plead guilty and pay the fine, why do they make you appear?

Robin.

This happened to my neighbor right after she moved in. She was required to attend the court appearance (just paying wasn't an option). Anyway, the judge waived the ticket because she was knew and told her to be more responsible next time. She basically just told the truth... that it was late at night, she just moved here and honestly didn't see the spot.

You can always just give it a shot and explain about July 4th and such but it's a longshot really. I've never been to court either but perhaps I'd give it a try since you just moved here. You can always try. It sure is s bummer of course but good luck!

Not guilty by reason of insanity.

I PMed you.

The curb is not painted at all at this spot...


I'll probably just plead guilty and if there's an opportunity to explain that the curb isn't painted, it was dark, raining, and full of rowdy kids, fine. But obviously I'd rather just get this done with than risk further fees and inconvenience. The system wins.

I am sure most judges would assume that you parked in one of those handicap spots you see at Shop-Rite etc. which are clearly marked and seperated. The handicap spots on the common streets of JC are not always so clearly marked. I have had to point out to drivers late at night near Hamilton Park that they were in a handicap spot since sometimes the signs get obscured by trees. They also paint the curb blue which is not always noticeable on a poorly lit street. You are probably going to have to pay or else risk additional court costs.

i actually did the same thing, by mistake, and got the ticket with mandatory appearance. i dressed nice, ready to explain that it was actually dark, raining, and tree obstructed the sign (it was on jersey near hamilton park).. when the judge started for the day, she said "if you got a ticket for parking in handicap spot, you are guilty, i dont want to hear any explanations or anything, plead guilty and pay the fine." which i did.

i also went back to the spot and left a note on the car that 'owns" the spot and left a note on the window apologizing for taking the spot.

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+1!

Can't believe I agree on something with CK but he's right.