Free parking on Main Street continues this Saturday after 11 a.m., despite ticketing mix-up

After a mix-up involving holiday shoppers in Manayunk, red ribbons, and unexpected parking tickets, free parking will return to Manayunk’s Main Street this Saturday and next Saturday, with the Philadelphia Parking Authority agreeing to cancel all 13 of the tickets given along Main Street last Saturday.

The parking ticket incident stems from a holiday parking promotion run by the Manayunk Development Corporation. Parking meters along Main Street were tagged with bright red bows and signs that read, “Parking is Free on Saturdays, Happy Holidays from MNYK.” However, the free parking on Saturdays is not scheduled to begin until 11 a.m.

Alicia Dietzmann, MDC’s Public Relations & Event Coordinator, explained, “We had put out tags on parking meters that parking is free on Saturday, a Happy Holidays from MNYK. These were hung on the parking meters a little too early.”

Many shoppers (13 in total) returned to their cars on Saturday to find a $26 ticket on their windshields, despite parking next to parking meters that displayed the MDC-sponsored holiday greeting.

“One of the visitors who received a ticket went to NBC 10,” began Dietzmann, “They went down and shot a story on Monday. That’s when we were made aware of the situation.”

Naturally, the ticketing incident led to some confusion and frustration, but the Manayunk Development Corporation was able to step in and clarify what went wrong before getting the PPA to agree to waive all of the fines.

“It was just a simple mistake of not putting the times,” concluded Dietzmann.

While the tags and red bows will not make a return appearance on parking meters this year, free parking on Saturdays is set to continue this weekend and next weekend after 11 a.m., as shoppers prepare for the Christmas season. Just be sure to pay the meter up until at 11 a.m. 

To avoid future confusion, Dietzmann says that the MDC meter tags will be redesigned for next year and will feature the free parking time frame.

Meg Frankowski contributed to this report.