A Brooklyn lawmaker wants the city to curb its policy requiring that motorists pay for metered parking on days when alternate-side parking is suspended.
Saying the city unleashed “a ticket massacre” on Presidents Day, City Councilman Vincent Gentile (D-Brooklyn) is renewing his push to keep the parking rules in sync.
The bill, which he first introduced in the City Council last year, would require the city to suspend parking meter rules on all holidays when alternate-side regulations are scrapped.
“As I was driving around the district and running errands [on Presidents Day], I saw no less than three traffic agents writing ‘gotcha’ tickets at parking meters within a span of four blocks,” Gentile said.
“These agents are preying on the public — they are boosting revenue for the city, nothing more and nothing less,” he said.
Gentile said constituents are often confused by the out-of-sync rules and skip meter feeding because they assume it is not required on the days alternate-side rules don’t apply.
He said at least a dozen constituents complained about getting these tickets on Monday.
A violation for parking at an expired meter costs $65 in Manhattan below 96th Street, and $35 elsewhere in the city.
Gentile spokesman Justin Brannan said his office was told Mayor Bloomberg would likely veto the bill if the council were to pass it.
Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a Democratic front-runner for mayor this year, would not take a position on the legislation.
The city has been giving out fewer parking tickets in recent years, according to data from the Department of Finance. The total number of parking tickets dropped from 9.9 million in 2009 to just under 9.3 million in 2010 and 8.8 million in 2011.
Though the total for 2012 is not yet available, it is expected to drop further, in part due to the parking holiday following Hurricane Sandy.