Muni-meters come to Union Turnpike

Parking your car on the Flushing-Hollis border will require you to learn how to use the “newfangled” muni meters.
The New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) has already begun a program that will replace the familiar single-space parking meters with muni meters along Union Turnpike from Main Street to 193rd Street.
The three-phase program will install 62 of the boxy, push-button receipt dispensers in place of the 351 coin-operated devices.
The first phase, which was to be completed by Saturday, July 14, included Union Turnpike from 193rd to 185th Streets on the north side and between Chevy Chase to 189th Street on the south, where 20 muni meters replaced 97 traditional meters.
Phase 2 encompasses 180th to 176th Streets on the north side and 175th to Kent Street on the south side. The removal of 114 old meters began on Monday, July 21 and the 20 installed muni-meters were to be activated on Saturday, July 21.
The final phase, which is scheduled to begin on Monday July 23, will cover from 169th Street to Main Street on the north, and from 169th to 150th Streets on the south side of Union Turnpike, where 22 muni-meters will be activated on July 28.
With the increase in muni meters, many drivers are questioning whether the handheld computers that parking enforcement agents use are universally accurate, suggesting that the “fast meter” defense may outlive the parking meter.
The DOT reminds the public that the new meters “can increase the number of parking spaces along the curbside by as much as 15 percent, because motorists can use the entire regulated curbside and space is not lost due to the arbitrary spacing associated with single space meters.”
They also tout the benefits of unobstructed sidewalks, accurate timekeeping and proof of payment for drivers. Muni meters accept quarters, dollar coins, and credit cards, as well as New York City Parking Cards, which can be purchased in $20 and $50 denominations through the DOT web site, by mail and at City Store locations.
A complete list of commercial and passenger vehicle muni meter locations is available at the DOT web site, www.nyc.gov/dot.
For information, please call 3-1-1 or visit the DOT web site.