Big Apple drivers are trying to stay away from expensive parking tickets — and keep people from taking their spots.
Some Bronx motorists are getting creative to avoid $250 tickets now that about 1,000 MTA buses are equipped with cameras to catch the license plates of cars blocking bus lanes.
A video posted online showed a line of vehicles parked illegally in a bus lane on Webster Street, their trunks open and their license plates facing the sky, in an attempt to avoid cameras.
“Personal perspective: You're avoiding a bus lane ticket in NYC,” one TikToker shared last Sunday.
Some people liked the move.
“This is actually genius,” one woman marveled in the comments of the clip, which has racked up 150,000 views.
One of the men said regretfully: “I wish my plate was mounted on the trunk of the car and not on the bumper.”
Others criticized the brakes on the stem idea.
“You're not going to win the battle against a bus ticket,” one woman advised.
“Close the trunks while doing this,” one TikTok user warned.
Other paintings were seen covered with towels to prevent them from being photographed.
Fines for obscuring license plates to prevent them from being caught by cameras can be higher than the bus route ticket itself — in place since June, and ranging from $100 to $500.
Repeat offenders with three or more convictions within five years face a 90-day suspension of their registration, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Avoiding bus lanes isn't the only smart move city drivers make.
On Monday, the same TikToker shared a video of a fake fire hydrant that appeared to have tipped over on a sidewalk in New York City.
“People are putting fake water hydrants in front of their houses so they won't stop there, and I'm wondering why there are 5 water hydrants in one building,” she wrote.
