Years ago in NYC, my wife and I were taking in a show in the theater district. We were touristas, so we had a car. We parked VERY carefully, after reading all the signs. We got out, and walked down the block. A Good Samaritan -- yes, they do exist, even in NYC -- stopped us and said we'd be towed. He pointed to the far end of the block, to our rear, where a couple of tow trucks were hooking up cars, with a couple more tow trucks waiting to descend. And as soon as a car was towed, another motorist, who had been carefully reading the signs, slid into the spot.
I no longer remember how the scam worked, but the signage was deliberately misleading. Must've been a real profit center for the city.
That STINKS.
It’s very, very short-sighted of the city to discourage tourists. Boston has a similar problem.