Changes coming to a meter near you

The times they are a changin’.

Beginning this week, traditional parking meters will be athing of the past. Muni-meters are beinginstalled to replace them by the Department of Transportation (DOT)all over the five boroughs and the agency began, this week, in BathBeach.

According to DOT, on Monday, October 17, muni-meters wereinstalled along stretches of 86th Street, Bath Avenue, 18th Avenue,Shore Parkway, Bay Parkway and Cropsey Avenue. In Bay Ridge, newmuni-meters were put in on October 19 along parts of 86th Street,Fourth Avenue, Fifth Avenue and sections of 87th through 83rdStreets, Ovington Avenue, and Bay Ridge Avenue.

Starting October 24, muni-meters will be installed inBensonhurst on Bay Parkway from 63rd to 72nd Streets; on McDonaldAvenue from Avenue J to Foster Avenue and on 66th through 70thStreets from Avenue O to 21st Avenue. On October 25, Dyker Heightswill get theirs along Eleventh Avenue from 62nd Street to Bay RidgeAvenue; on Ft. Hamilton Parkway from 49th to 72nd Streets andsections of 65th, 66th and 67th Streets.

In addition, instead of paying a quarter for 20 minutes of parking,time will be reduced to 15 minutes per quarter on most meters,following up on a change announced earlier this year that began tobe put into effect in August. You can see the new time on meters inBensonhurst, Bath Beach and Dyker Heights, but not yet in BayRidge.

Brooklynites seemed to take the changes in stride.

The city is in dire need of money and they are looking for anyway to get it through the public and their vehicles, said Dale,who works in Bay Ridge. With muni-meters there will be less fraud,since people put bags over meters to pretend that they are notworking. It’s good in a way, but the new time frame is tooshort.

Tiana Murray thinks it’s ridiculous that she has to pay forparking in the first place. We have a hard time finding parking ingeneral, she said. When you find a spot, you have to keep goingback to feed the meter, sometimes walking five or six blocks. It’smessed up.

But Ridgeite Asiel Rajab welcomed the change. This is a busyneighborhood and when you have meters there is a bigger turnoverfor parking, she said. People are constantly going in and out ofspots, which is good. No one double parks and traffic isbetter.