New York City – So much for post-election populism.
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Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on Monday vowed to veto a popular City Council bill that would give ticket-fatigued drivers a five-minute grace period at thousands of electronic parking meters, saying it would lead to “chaos.”
The Council is set to pass the bill Monday afternoon, with overwhelming support, potentially setting the stage for the first legislative override of the mayor since his re-election.
“I will veto that. I think its a very misguided piece of legislation,” Mr. Bloomberg said.
He said that the grace period “is only going to lead to chaos and enormous increases in contested tickets” as drivers and traffic enforcement agents argue over the five minute buffer.
“Whose watch are you going to use?” the mayor asked.
The vote was to take place 10 months after the bill was first introduced and nine months after the Council’s Transportation Committee held a hearing on it. The New York Post has reported that the Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, orchestrated the delay as a favor to Mayor Bloomberg, who would have likely paid a price at the polls had he been forced to announce his opposition to the legislation before the election.
The mayor’s dismissive remarks on Monday suggested that little had changed since his narrow re-election two weeks ago. During the campaign, his Democratic opponent mocked the city’s aggressive enforcement of parking rules, which has infuriated drivers, and cost them dearly: most parking tickets start at more than $100.
Some predicted that the mayor would seek to appeal to those aggrieved drivers after the election. But he appeared unsympathetic at a Bronx food distribution center Monday.
He said the solution was to change the duration of the parking times that can be purchased at the electronic meters from 60 to 65 minutes. “But that 60 minutes and a grace period doesn’t make any sense to anybody,” he said.
“I think something that is explicit, so there are no arguments, is in everyone’s interest,” he said.
“We are going away from that,” he said of the Council proposal, “and just asking for chaos.”
Meanwhile Council Member Simcha Felder today issued below Press Release
The New York City Council is expected to pass two pieces of legislation by Council Member Simcha Felder (D-Boro Park, Midwood, Bensonhurst) that will end ‘Gotcha’ ticketing across the City. The first bill creates a five-minute “grace period” for drivers for certain no parking zones such as alternate side parking regulations and expired Muni-Meters. The second bill requires the City’s Department of Transportation (DOT) to post notices of new and changed parking restrictions in affected neighborhoods and online up to one week in advance.
“I want to thank Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Council Member John Liu, Chair of the Council’s Transportation Committee for recognizing that tickets should only be issued to promote compliance and not to generate revenue,” said Felder. “Anyone with common sense and decency understands the need for a five-minute grace period to eliminate ‘gotcha’ tickets.”
In 2007, almost 300,000 alternate side violations were issued within five minutes of the rule taking effect. Of those, nearly 28,000 tickets were issued exactly on the hour that the rule went into effect. A five-minute grace period was previously in place as part of the City’s traffic enforcement policy but has since been replaced with a suggestion to agents that they use common sense when doling out violations. Many drivers believe a grace period still exists. Several municipalities, including Miami, have parking grace periods in place.
Parking restrictions could previously be altered without prior notification to the affected communities, resulting in confusion and unfair parking tickets. Under the new legislation, drivers who receive tickets within five days of DOT’s posting of permanent parking changes have an affirmative defense that he or she was parked in compliance with applicable parking restrictions that were in effect prior to the change. DOT will only be required to post emergency parking changes when practical and motorists will be subject to towing in those areas.
“It is unreasonable for the City to change parking regulations and restrictions without letting the public know first,” said Councilman Felder. “Simple notification would ensure that drivers park safely and would reduce the number of unfair parking tickets.”
“Taken together, these parking bills will make parking around our city both clearer and fairer for all New York City drivers,” said Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn.
I hear your argument Mr. Bloomberg, lemme see another jest instead.. maybe you show another break on thearking tickets, since you’re so creative in finding ways in increasing tickets and fine amounts, maybe you can for once use your talent in reducing ticket pain?
“But that 60 minutes and a grace period doesn’t make any sense to anybody,” he said. – Speak for your self
ala tze zamin NO NO NO TO TICKETS, NO NO NO TO TICKETS
Can someone please tell me if once the mayor overirdes it, can they still pass this new law or it becomes invalid for good?
P.S. you wouldn’t expect anything else from this Egoistic Arrogant Selfish individual…
GO SIMCHA GO!!! YOU ARE FIGHTING FOR US
“Whose watch are you going to use?” the mayor asked. ”
mr. mayor, whose watch are we using now?????
You guys don’t realize what he’s about. He takes things personally. He will just find another way to tax or fine us. Or he will increase the prices on tickets to make up for the loss. He can’t take a loss. You’ll see. He always comes out on top.
Simcha u are the best!!! Keep up!
Mr Bloomy,
We’ve been on “your” watch for way to long and it has cost us an arm and a leg.
ENOUGH!!!!
like they have israel it goes till -500
He is 100% correct.i can just picture the chaos he anticipates. Kudos mayork bloomberg for your seichel and sense over people’s stupidity
I agree with the mayor. Then what happens a minute after teh grace period; you think people will just accept it. People have to be responsible for the actions.
…and to all the Bloomberg voters: ENJOY YOUR GREAT SELECTION!!!
It is crazy to prove the five minute period . How about just relax the amount of ticketers
Well now we can cry. wasn’t it pathetic to re vote him. NO I DID NOT VOTE THIS PIG IN.
christe quinn stalled this bill in the council until after elections so it shouldn’t affect bloomy’s reelection
Whose watch are you going to use? the mayor asked
I’m not the smartest person but I understand that if the little ticket that you put at the windsheel has the time printed on it you go with that time (example ticked says 11:59am you have till 12:04 pm).
The best way to do this is to limit the number of ticketing agents on the street… If there were fewer of these things running around there would be fewer tickets and you would have your grace period.
just wait till youll pay 10 dollars with a rebate of 2 dollars for crossing tjhe brooklyn bridge plus 8 dollars for whatever thats called for being in manhattan 10 dollars for your return trip to brooklyn hope you all enjoy your third term mayor
Thank you hashem for giving us someone like Simcha Felder that cares about the PPL. not like this Stupid Selfish Mikel Bloomen-klotz
You voted for him. You were warned. You have the government you deserve. Unfortunately, I and many others are collateral damage. Thanks a lot!
Many of these tickets probably lead to background checks; such as turnstile jumping, cellphone usage in cars, etc and may help catch criminals. Yes we don’t like it but let’s not ignore the good these nuisance tickets do.
Hey guys ur missing the point. I haven’t gotten a parking ticket in years. Just follow the signs and he won’t be able to write even 1 ticket
I guess now that it’s mayor Bloomberg (hopefully) last term, Simcha Felder got some guts to oppose him.
I never voted for Bloomy. It’s disgusting when someone parks, gets out of the car, opens her baby carriage and is ticketed for not feeding the meter!!!! Cant they see the mother is strugling with the baby and the carriage???? She didnt even take her keyes out of the ignition and the ticket is written!!!!!!!!!!! Shame on you Mr Bloomberg!
how about eliminating the alternate side ticket vultures, and instead give the street sweepers digital cameras. you block the street sweeper you get a ticket, no street sweeper, no ticket.
I guess Simcha Felder has learned something from his losing bid for the Senate.
Now that he’s finally doing the right thing by his constituents, I do have a suggestion for him which if followed would endear him and make him a hero to one and all.
We are all aware of the hated and infamous NYC 15 feet parking restriction on either side of a Fire Hydrant, in a sense restricting parking for a total of 30 feet (roughly parking space for two cars).
With the current horrendous parking situation It would be the right thing to do if Simcha Felder would take the lead to overturn this antiquated and in a way misused rule and change the restriction from 15 feet to 3 feet. Meaning 3 feet on either side of the Fire Hydrant for a total of 6 feet . In my humble opinion Six feet should more than sufficient access space needed by the Fire Dept. to hook up a hose to the fire hydrant.
Simcha, this will immediately free up thousands of badly needed parking spaces with out endangering the public in any meaningful way, and would only add tremendously to the quality of life and well being of your constituents by saving them hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.
I also hate parking taxes -ehm, tickets, but how could anybody be so ignorant to the protests of the mayor? Seriously, who is watching the coin operated meters with a stopwatch to prove the five minutes? On the other hand, a five minute grace period is really not worth fighting for, since everybody is simply going to purchase their muni-meter parking five minutes later. It won’t help anybody. Better to simply reduce the number of meter maids on the street. Or better yet, enforce the doggie-doo laws. $1,000 per violation.