In short: All bikes and scooters do it so we wouldn't get violations.
In NYC parking is a nightmare.
When we park on a street we have to pay a Muni-meter where we pay as much as a car which is $3 per hour in most cases. And get a receipt that we should display on the dashboard of the car, impossible to stick to a bike. DOT suggests to get a clear pouch to be able to display a parking receipt visible for traffic officers. Weekdays most meters are only for commercial vehicles.
I've spoken to a traffic officer on the issue, he said "I don't wanna mess with bikes, plus the plates are mostly removed." Which is true whenever I see a bike on the street or a Vespa I usually see the plate removed and the officers normally turn a blind eye. Takes a bit more effort to tow a bike then a car, though I have seen it happen. To give a ticket officers normally scan the cars registration and their hand held device prints out a parking violation automatically. Saves a lot of time and lets them cover a lot of ground. considering every other car on the block is not supposed to be parked.
Parking garages charge 200+ bucks per month and same price as car for regular parking. We are still running the risk of getting towed each time by removing the plate for it is technically considered as an abandoned vehicle, but what can we do when the parking system is flawed? Taking the plate off is the solution that every biker is being pushed to. The american freedom and the idea that the motorcycle represents is being attacked in NYC. I'd love to move, but I work here and going for my architectural license In NY state I will be living here for a while.
Anyways, I really don't wanna bother with 2 screws each time I take the plate on and off. Plus when it is also risky to get caught in the act. But I found that this 3M tape seems to be the best solution. I'll probably will still use 1 screw just in case. What do you think?