State Senator Marty Golden and Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis want to extend the same five-minute grace period for munimeter parking tickets that New York City residents have to the rest of the state.
[There have been] certain incidents when an individual parked, went to go feed the meter and when they returned they had a ticket, Malliotakis explained at a press conference on May 3 outside of Goldens district office. We need to have a five minute rule that gives an individual five minutes to get their ticket.
The City Council passed this legislation in March and although it was vetoed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the Council overrode the veto, with the law scheduled to take effect on September 24.
Malliotakis pointed out that sometimes the munimeters are problematic and there is not one on every block. They are often broken or have others in line to use it, making the grace period all the more needed.
We need to make it a state law, Malliotakis said, adding that cities like Buffalo and Yonkers also have munimeters. I believe its an important protection to help residents to ensure they are not being nickeled and dimed by the city and harassed by traffic agents when all they are trying to do is pay their fair share.
Al Asfazadour, president of AARP Chapter 5055, said that the grace period is especially important for senior citizens. It takes them too long to walk to get the ticket and then walk back. This is just wrong, he said. The machines are complicated to use if youve never seen them before.
Golden also called to extend current one-hour meters to two hours, already installed in sections of Fifth Avenue, around Bay Ridge, so people can have more peace of mind when shopping, at the salon or at a restaurant. He also expressed interest in installing more countdown clocks in the neighborhood, to make it easier for seniors to cross the street.
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