Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/15/1583.asp

2/2/2007

New York Red Light Camera Tickets a Rowboat
New York City camera accuses a boat of running a red light.

The New York City Department of Finance accused Russell Falkena, 46, of running a red light on in his boat on December 10, 2006. A $50 ticket mailed to Falkena earlier this month claims his vehicle, "Type: Boat" was seen on West Street and 10th Avenue at 11:16am (view ticket).

Falkena does in fact own an abandoned aluminum rowboat with that license number -- but it is not a license plate. Moreover, Falkena insists he was flying back from Idaho when the ticket was issued, not rowing in Manhattan.

"That boat has been sitting there for years," Falkena told the Times Herald-Record newspaper.

New York officials claim this was an isolated mistake and that police review tickets before they are issued. In this case, it is clear that an SUV appears in the photograph, not a boat. Nonetheless, the city's camera program has generated more than $130 million in revenue since 1993. In 2005, it issued 306,117 tickets.

Source: Man ticketed for running red light - in a rowboat (Times-Herald Record (NY), 2/2/2007)

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