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Dozens of Jersey City residents had cars towed away ahead of Sunday marathon

Those who were at the impound lot on Monday said that they had to pay more than $200 to get their cars back.

Matt Trapani and Chris Keating

Apr 24, 2023, 8:38 PM

Updated 596 days ago

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Jersey City held its first marathon this weekend. It was an event that the 4,800 runners who competed will never forget – but there are several dozen residents who might wish the event never happened due to them having their vehicles towed away ahead of the race.
Jersey City police had vehicles belonging to 86 people towed away on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s race. Those who were at the impound lot on Monday said that they had to pay more than $200 to get their cars back. Many told News 12 New Jersey that they felt there wasn’t enough notice.
Michael Poreda left his car parked along Columbus Drive before leaving for the weekend. He had to pay $213 to impound, plus a $50 ticket from the police.
“It’s probably a money grab,” he says.
Others parked on the street Friday, went home and never went back out to use their cars until Monday.
“You don’t want to start a Monday like this,” says Rushadh Khinvasara.
Khinvasara and Poreda swear that they did not see any signs posted Friday about the tow zone. News 12 crews found plenty of those signs on Monday.
Ariana Serrano also said she did not see a sign. News 12 caught up with her as she pulled her Lexus from impound. She says she was parked across from the deli located at Neptune and Garfield avenues.
“It would’ve been better if they had posters up, like posters on all the poles or something. I didn’t see the big sign on Garfield,” she says.
Sunday’s race was Jersey City’s first marathon. The runners represented 28 countries, with 900 runners from Jersey City.
Race Director Steve Lipski tells News 12 that the “No Parking” signage was in place by Thursday. He wrote in a statement that while he feels bad for those who were towed, “We feel we did a very thorough job communicating and paid for posters ourselves two weeks before…For those 86 people, my heart goes out to them. “
Some residents said they would like to see Jersey City police model their towing after New York City. When it comes to cars parked in the way of parades and races in New York, they get towed to a street that’s been cleared and not to the impound lot.