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Jesse Jones III

A New York blogger and Pratt Institute’s science professor, Ben Wellington, was able to make a discovery by using a public data to show that the New York Police Department gave tickets to legally parked cars.

Wellington learned of it after getting tickets while his car was parked on the street he lives on. He decided to team up with a data analyst to collect public data. Since 2009, drivers were allowed to park in those certain spaces, and they got ticketed illegally. Wellington told PIX11 news, “I noticed every once in awhile I would get these tickets at certain ramps that it was legal to park but I would get tickets anyway.”

New York City earned millions of dollars in revenue from those illegal parking tickets. The spokesperson in NYPD’s Department of Finance, which collects the fines stated, “Anyone who receives a ticket they feel has been wrongly issued should request a hearing to dispute it.” They also stated, “We are currently reviewing a process for refunds.” Go take a look at your old tickets to see if you will get a refund.