Brooklyn Assemblyman Decries 'Confusing' City Policy On Muni-Meters
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- There is plenty of confusion and contradiction for those using New York City's muni-meters.
According to the Department of Transportation, drivers can buy time from a meter on any street in the city and use remaining time on another street as long as they keep the receipt. But according to one lawmaker, parking enforcement officials are not honoring that policy.
Brooklyn Assemblyman William Colton believes the confusion is ripping off drivers across the city and called it a "shell game."
"What is happening here is that you have a system set up to make money irregardless of the rights of the consumer, of the motorists. The system is not interested in due process or fairness," Colton told 1010 WINS.
Colton said his office will try to regulate a law that clarifies that leftover muni-meter time can be used at any location.
"When pressed, DOT admits that the receipt does not say that you can't use it on another block, and therefore, you can use it on another block. But if you go to a judge, the judges have habitually said, 'we don't accept that, we don't recognize that,'" he said.
In most of the city, muni-meter rates total $1 per hour. In Manhattan, meters below 96th Street run $3.00 per hour.
Colton argued that the city was using an illegitimate policy to generate money.
"The agents are being told to issue tickets. The judges are being told to find someone guilty if they get a ticket for using that receipt on other block, but yet, the policy is not that at all. The policy is confusing," he said.
The Department of Transportation has not yet returned a call placed by 1010 WINS.
Share your muni-meter story in the comments section below...
