'Parking Wars' Giving Philly Black Eye?

PHILADELPHIA - Tourism officials are miffed over the show "Parking Wars."

They think it's giving the city a black eye and causing Philadelphia to lose thousands, maybe even millions of tourist dollars.

The A&E show "Parking Wars" is about to present the city with $110,000 to keep city pools open.

But tourism officials say that's a drop in the bucket compared to the tourism dollars being lost, reported Fox 29's Robin Taylor.

"Parking Wars" highlights how difficult it is to be a Parking Authority employee.

The gritty series exposes the rougher side of Philadelphia, creating a marketing migraine for tourism officials.

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation has gotten hundreds of e-mails from people who are turned off and have even canceled their vacations.

"It's not even that they're afraid of parking. That's not what they're afraid of. It's, 'Oh, that's how I'm going to be treated as a guest in your city,’” says Meryl Levitz, head of the Tourism Marketing Corp.

The comments go like this: "People in your city come off as rude, hard, cynical and unfriendly" or "Never, ever, ever, never will I visit Philadelphia."

The Parking Authority defends the show saying it reveals the human side of "officers [that] endure constant abuse from people who park illegally."

"It's like a reality show. People, they park illegally, they get a ticket. Bottom line,” says resident Jeffrey Schoofield.

"They say the ‘City of Brotherly Love’, but I don’t know about that. They kind of miscalculated that,” believes Antwoine McCoy.

Yet the tourists we talked to found "Parking Wars" entertaining, but not egregious enough to keep them away.

"I know that parking is a problem. So yeah, I thought it was pretty funny. I’m thinking, ‘Oh, Thank Heavens we live somewhere where we don't have to cope with that,’” says Carla White of Oklahoma.

“I thought it was hysterically funny. But everybody who got in trouble, there's a sign that says 'Don't park there' and you're good,” says Rick Getz of Ohio.

Tourism officials aren't saying the show should be pulled. Instead, they're trying to educate tourists how to read the signs and use Smart Cards so they aren't ticketed or towed.