Gretchen, did they mention where you can park if you visit them? Was one a Korean Tea Shop?

There are over 175 languages spoken in Queens. In fact some scholars of linguistics have gone to Queens to study some dying languages from other areas of the world. Some of the best and cheapest ethnic food can be found in Queens and PS 1 is an interesting museum. That said, it is not one of the top tourist attractions.

The article in this past Wednesday's NY Times Food section regarding Korean food was highly instructional and made Korean food extremely enticing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/17/dining/critics-notebook-pete-wells-explores-korean-restaurants-in-queens.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Aw%2C {%221%22%3A%22RI%3A7%22}&_r=0

Oh, man. I've lived in Queens for 15 years and am just now learning about the Dunkin' Donuts parking scam. Might be time to move to the Bronx.

But seriously -- as a Queens resident, I recommend visiting the borough for a day as part of a larger NYC trip. The Queens Museum of Art and the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows are great, and the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria is world-class. Keep your expectations low in terms of architecture -- it's remarkably ugly (with a few exceptions, such as the stunning Forest Hills Gardens).

Not to excuse OP, but I had almost the same thing happen in my home town.

I parked in Post office lot. There was a tow truck parked just outside the lot, on the street. A flatbed kind. Didn't see it at the time.

I walked into to the post office, got a priority box. Walked out, went to me car to get my packing tape, which I left. I walked across the street for 5 minutes to buy a package of tortillas that were going no into the box. In that 5minutes, they had my car easy to hoist up on the flatbed.

They didn't care that I had been IN the Post office first (said they didn't see me go in, only saw me close the door after I got tape and went across the street.) and was heading BACK to post office.

They did leave my car all me, but it wasnt a very nice scene. They were nasty beyond belief. When I got onto the PO, the clerk said because of the location, right near college campus, small lot, near the favorite campus restaurant etc etc, these guys just hung out and picked up cars of anyone who stepped foot off the lot.

I admit I did that, and that although I had been in the PO first, then put, then IN, I was guilty. And yes there was a sign. I just didn't think that 5 minutes would matter. Oh, the PO clerk said, these guys get a % of each tow.

<< But we did not see this business practice in NYC, which I think has a tougher parking problem than Queens. NYC has parking structures.>>

Ignorance in abundance.

Unless Queens has seceded from the rest of the City, it is PART of New York City. The comparison is inane.

Ride the train to Queens.

I used to ride the train there, but the station is too far from the Dunkin Donuts.

"I walked into to the post office, got a priority box. Walked out, went to me car to get my packing tape, which I left. I walked across the street for 5 minutes to buy a package of tortillas that were going no into the box. In that 5minutes, they had my car easy to hoist up on the flatbed."

I remember reading about that when you posted in the past. I actually thought of the "tortilla incident" when I read the OP yesterday.

I also saw a reality show once about a tow truck guy whose job it was to watch out for walk-offs at one particular parking lot.

In Allston, a student heavy area of Boston, the tow trucks watch the CVS lot. It is lucrative because students don't read signs. They are too busy texting.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Queens, It may not be the top tourist spot as stated by Lonely Planet but it's a great place to visit.

I must be psychic. A brand new poster with a single post.

Well, duh, I had it happen in Charlotte NC, parking in a bank lot to go to a class at CPCC. I was wrong. HOWEVER, I did come back in time to see them--and they had dented my car quarter panel, so I had some negotiating room.
The OP is a ditz==cute, but a ditz.

And a large percentage of visitors to NYC arrive and depart from Queens as JFK and LGA airports are located there.

Yes, but why they would e driving around in Queens is a big question.

EVERYONE says do NOT rent a car in NYC.

People who bring theie own cars simply need to follow the posted rules - and they wouldn;t have nay problems.

If you don;t - you just have to pay the fines and stop whining.

Just happened to friends in Queens. He is from there and was visiting. They towed his rental. Don't think he was at dunkin though. He was pissed but paid it.

DebitNM

There is a conditional qualifier known as "if and only if..." which is followed by a condition that is determined solely by the owner of the commodity in demand, in this case, a parking lot. This is a fact that is often lost on those who don't own the commodity/lot, because the reward for ignoring who owns the lot, that of one's own convenience or fondness for the commodity in question, is very tempting.

In my case, I tried to ignore who owned a certain chocolate bar. My argument was that the chocolate bar was stamped "Hershey" and that I knew that the party claiming ownership wasn't named Hershey and that therefore they weren't legitimately the owner.

You apparently tried the Hershey excuse on the patrollers of the PO lot. You were even more brazen than I was, you now claim outrage because the patrollers acted like the enforcers they were hired by the PO to be.


The PO, like the owner of the above-mentioned chocolate bar, gets to set the condition as to how they will allocate their, that's their, commodity. This includes defining 'while' as in 'parking free while a customer of the store. You wanted to redefine 'while', expanding it to include that you were to be considered a customer so long as you had some previously purchased item, in the form of a priority box, acting like a magical Lord of the Parking Lot Tokens. (The OP's magical LOTPLT was even flimsier, in the form of an ice cream/donut.) The patrollers evidently knew nothing about Tolkien but were unfortunately not only well acquainted with the PO/Dunkin' Donuts policy, they were able to emulate the nastiness of orks.

You, the OP, and I, we all tried to bluff, but so far only one of us is admitting to it. You and the OP should at least own up to the fact. I did so, although I have to confess, the marks of my guilt were literally on my lips.

I don't even know what all that means...I guess you want me to say, "I admit it, I parked illegally." And that I should just let them tow my car away and pay the fine for the error of my way. Uh, ok. I admit it, I parked illegally. Forgive me father for I have sinned. Whatever.

Not forgive you that you have sinned. Just pay the cost of the infraction and don;t behave as if you have been treated badly when you were in the wrong.

I think that Dunkin has added a new flavor-towfoo.

I am absolutely amazed that everyone is amazed that tow trucks stake out parking lots and that they get a % of the tow. LOL