By Philip Newman
A City Council Committee heard testimony last week on proposed new parking legislation with Council members and a transportation official engaging in a contentious discussion about broken parking meters.
Councilman John Liu (D−Flushing) said the Council’s Transportation Committee had introduced legislation to “make parking a more civilized experience in New York.”
David Wolock, deputy commissioner of the city DOT, disagreed with most of the proposals as unnecessary or too expensive.
The hottest topic was broken parking meters.
Several Council members, including Liu and Simca Felder (D−Brooklyn), suggested motorists are unfairly penalized for parking longer than one hour at broken meters.
“The DOT needs to find better balance,” Liu said. “It’s sheer obstinacy to perpetuate the broken meter rule when the rule does not deter vandals and yet penalizes law−abiding motorists.”
The Department of Transportation regulations specify that motorists may legally park no longer than one hour at a broken meter. But Liu said the DOT should allow parking at broken meters as long as parking signs specify functioning meters. Proposed legislation Intro 812 would amend the city administrative code to do just that.
“There are a variety of things that drive New Yorkers crazy, confusing parking regulations being one of them,” Liu said.
But Woloch said that to extend the allowed time to park at broken meters would serve as an open invitation to vandals.
“The longer the time is extended, the greater incentive there is for someone to break a meter,” Woloch said.
Woloch also objected to a City Council bill to replace all coin meters with Muni−Meters, which accept credit cards, as too expensive.
Besides Intro 812, other bills on parking that have been introduced in the City Council include:
Intro 175 that would require Muni−Meters to accept credit and debit cards; Intro 686 that would require dismissal of violations tickets for parking in front of an illegal curb cut in which a householder or business creates an illegal parking space on his or her property; Intro 786 requiring hand−held computers used by traffic enforcements agents to be synchronized with the Department of Transportation’s sign information management system; Intro 811 requiring the DOT to convert all coin meters to Muni−Meters by July 2010..
Queens members of the committee who took part included Joseph Addabbo Jr. (D−Howard Beach) and Diana Reyna (D−Ridgewood).
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e−mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 146.
