The Official New Yorker’s Guide To Los Angeles

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign!

Los Angeles is a city known for its signs. The “HOLLYWOOD” sign, astrological signs…oh, and parking signs. On a typical metal post, one might find a sign for Monday morning street cleaning, a sign for 20-minute metered parking, a sign for permit residential zones, a sign prohibiting left turns, a temporary sign indicating a scheduled movie shoot, and even a sign to warn against late-night walking (cruising). Each of these signs, which restrict parking throughout different times and days of the week, will often have hours that overlap and rules that contradict. I’ve spent many-a-minute pondering these signs, puzzling over them as a psychic might frown over a cup of ominous tealeaves. To complicate matters, these signs are often obscured by flyers for lost cats, or government warnings that stray cats will be captured by public officials and impounded. Much like these stray cats, it is nearly impossible to escape the government’s ire if you fail to interpret the restrictions posted on the sign. In my first week alone, I received two parking tickets. The first time, the incident occurred during a Monday-morning street cleaning. The next day, I moved the car to the opposite side of the street, which, unfortunately, was scheduled for a Tuesday-morning street cleaning. Hoping that my New Jersey license plate would immunize me from these traffic penalties, I was crestfallen to learn that the government had also mailed the $85 fines to my parents’ house on the East Coast. Which was actually a saving grace, because these fines will double if you “forget” to pay them. [Photo via]