Park if you dare, of towing beware

When summoned to move an illegally parked car, Ken Larini tows it "with humility."

His 26-year-old business, Larini's Service Center, is the primary car removal company in Princeton, towing cars for the University, the Borough, the Township and the eating clubs.

Located on Alexander Street, students and community members go to his shop to pick up their cars when they've been towed for parking illegally on and around campus.

But, Larini said, he tries to make the process "as easy as possible for the drivers" by being friendly and accommodating to the people whose cars he has removed.

Cars parked illegally on University property are taken to a lot on campus, while all others are towed to Larini's lot. Often, the illegally parked cars disrupt surrounding traffic, making them more likely to be noticed and reported. For example, Larini's once towed a car that blocked the driveway of an eating club and prevented food from being delivered.

Public Safety ticketed 1,678 illegally parked vehicles on campus alone this past October. Charles Davall, Public Safety's deputy director for operations, estimated that the tickets from that month amounted to over $7,900.

Tickets are written by two Public Safety officers responsible for parking violations and traffic control, who patrol the campus to find cars that do not belong or are parked illegally.

After a driver's first parking ticket, he or she is given a warning, while subsequent tickets incur fines that increase with each violation. Davall said the recorded number of tickets refers only to fines, adding that Public Safety "probably [distributes] an equal number or more warnings."

One place from which Larini's frequently tows cars is the U-Store parking lot. Though students are allowed to park there overnight, their cars must be moved by 7:30 the next morning — when many student drivers are likely to still be asleep.

Larini said that many of the cars he tows from the lot belong to athletes. "It's a shame because they are the students who need cars the most," he said.

The limited availability and inconvenient location of longterm parking on campus leads many students to park in the U-Store lot, he added.

Cheryl Stevens '10 had her car towed from the U-Store when it was parked there for a few hours one morning. The experience taught her that parking regulations are strictly enforced on campus. "If you do park illegally somewhere on or around campus, I think that you are pretty likely to be ticketed or towed right away," she said.

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Lot 23, the student parking lot at the south end of campus, is the only official longterm parking area for undergraduates. The lot, she said, "is inconvenient, particularly for those of us who live up-campus."

All in all, Larini said, he estimates that about a quarter of the cars he tows belong to students.

He emphasized that his company doesn't just deal with towing illegally parked cars, however. Much of the work he does, he said, involves road service — jump-starting and towing cars that won't run. "We look at ourselves as doing both jobs," he said. "You see us if you do good; you see us if you do wrong."

"We have two hats," he added. "We work for everyone."

Over his 26 years of towing cars, he has had a variety of experiences with University students, Larini said. One memory stood out, however. When skiing in Colorado with some friends, Larini boarded a chairlift with two other skiers. One of his friends, who was sitting closer to the other skiers, began a conversation with them and discovered they were Princeton students.

The topic of conversation shifted to cars, and one of the students mentioned that she had had her car towed several times. Larini's friend asked if she had ever met Larini, but she had not. Larini introduced himself, and after talking for a while longer, the group parted.

What makes this story so memorable for Larini? When the student mentioned that she had been towed, she said, "I've been Larini-ized."