Parking cheaters beat up on metersBy DAVID SEIFMAN City Hall Bureau Chief, NY Post
Irate, conniving motorists vandalized so many parking meters last year that the total number in operation citywide fell to the lowest level since at least 2000, officials said yesterday.
Figures in the preliminary Mayor's Management Report show that just 83.9 percent of the 55,000 on-street meters were working from July 1 to Oct. 31, 2009.
That's down sharply from the 90 percent average that had held steady through the last decade.
Officials said some drivers "beat up" meters or jammed coin slots to protest parking-fee hikes.
Others jammed meters to take advantage of a new law enacted by the City Council allowing parking at an inoperable meter for as long as time-limit sign allows, instead of just one hour. The law took effect last March.
A City Council official said the management report's explanation didn't make much sense, since motorists could easily have pulled the same stunt before the new law was enacted.
"[The city] might not be repairing them as fast," the official speculated.
The Department of Transportation reported that it has allocated additional resources to inspect and repair meters, and expects things to get back to normal quickly.
10 comments:
a meter that short times the motorist and is claimed to be broken to the DMV,will not dismiss the fine. if the computer has no record ,you still pay $26.00.
after you put the coins in the meter?
and the beat goes on.....
Muni-meters are the way to go
I have watched parking agents scan vehicles with drivers behind the wheel- who weren't paying attention.
IF YOUR ENGINE ISN'T RUNNING-YOU'RE PARKED.
I estimate 40-50% of meters in Queens are disabled which is fine by me. The city is not fixing them - I thought the reason would be to roll out the central ticket type metering system that encourages more vehicle spots than the traditional individual meters. So I guess the central meters can be jammed as well except they provide for CC payment as alternative (Metro card next?). Parking is a pain in this city - other city's have done a much better job planning to acomadate this which attract more visitors and consumers to an area. We can surely devise an agreeable means to accomadate more affordable parking.
Sounds like the natives are getting restless!
Sounds like we need to crack down on criminals who vandalize public property.
Sounds like there are less and less cops to do anything about anything....
I've been finding entire blocks of meters not working, e.g. Grand Ave bet. 70th and 71st Street in Maspeth; that's a little fishy.
Sounds like there are less and less cops to do anything about anything....
Or they're all parked at meters displaying the "FAIL" sign of a disabled meter. It's amazing how often I see a block or half-block of this, especially in front of the LIC post office on 21st St.
Muni-meters are the way to go
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They are a scam. They get to double-charge for the same parking space because unused minutes drive away with you instead of being left for the next car.
Even though that time is bought and paid for, the same block of time has to be repurchased by someone else.
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