Council Votes on Muni-Meters, Wages, Adult Ads, Banking

The New York City Council is voting Tuesday on a number of issues affecting New Yorkers, including a change in parking laws.

At issue are the following:

• A bill which would allow Muni-Meter time purchased at one location to be transferable to another.
• Whether or not to override the mayor's veto of the prevailing wage bill.
• Whether to call for a raise in the state's minimum wage.
• The Responsible Banking Act, which will determine how best to distribute financial services.
• Whether to ask Village Voice Media to remove adult services ads from its Backpage.com website.

was met with criticism from some motorists. , lawmakers at the state and local level felt more could be done. A similar Muni-Meter bill was previously brought up in the State Assembly.

A man parking his car and buying a parking ticket from a Muni-Meter on Seventh Avenue said that he likes the bill that would allow him to transfer time to another location.

“I think this is a good thing, I never liked the fact that I had time left and the money I spent just went to the city without being used,” said Jason Crew, the owner of and in Park Slope, as he the placed his parking ticket on his dashboard. “Instead of wasting it, I tried to give it to somebody who was parking their car.”

But, Crew said that he couldn’t always find someone to give the remaining parking time to and he estimates that he would waste about 30 percent of the money he spent on parking.

“I think this is a better and more fair way to operate the Muni-Meters,” Crew said. “I always buy more time than I need because I figure it’s better to spend a couple more pennies than to pay a ticket.”

Councilman Daniel Halloran of District 19, a co-sponsor of the bill, thinks updating the parking rules is a good idea.

"It's a simple concept," he said, "You ought to get what you pay for. Drivers in this city have been taxed and tolled enough. This legislation makes good sense and will help drivers save a bit more of their hard-earned money."