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Drivers, your lives just got easier with new Muni-Meter reforms

June 25, 2013 Editorial Staff

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New York City drivers’ have gotten little easier thanks to legislation that passed the City Council earlier this month for the purpose of reforming the Muni-Meter system. The changes include:

Muni-Meters will now shut off and not accept payments for time periods when payment rules are suspended — for example, at 6 p.m., drivers won’t be charged for two hours of time, when meter rules end at 7 p.m.
Muni-Meters will no longer accept payments when the machine is out of paper to print receipts.
Muni-Meterrs will begin accepting payments one hour prior to the start time.

This last change means that drivers don’t have to come out from their dentist appointment while their teeth are getting drilled to put money in the meter, explained Councilmember David Greenfield, who introduced the bill.

The bill — 1042-A — will “fix what’s broken in New York City,” said Greenfield.

The bill received support from a long list of Brooklyn councilmembers, including Charles Barron, Matthew Eugene, Lewis Fidler, Vincent Gentile, Sara Gonzalez, Letitia James, Darlene Mealy, Domenic Recchia Jr., and Jumaane Williams

“This legislation, along with the establishment of the five-minute grace period and the law that requires Traffic Enforcement Agents to immediately cancel a parking ticket if the driver can furnish a receipt showing they have not violated the five-minute grace period, all go hand in hand,” added Gentile.

Additionally, thanks to legislation that was previously passed, time purchased at a Muni-Meter can now be used at any other metered parking spot—as long as the meter rate at the subsequent spot is the same or less than the rate where the Muni-Meter time was originally purchased.