Mayor Bloomberg says that if the City Council's planned five-minute grace period for parking violations goes into effect, there will be "chaos" on the streets. Based on this Daily News article, that already seems to be the case — and the law isn't even on the books yet.
A Bronx man confused about the Council's recent vote 47 to 2 vote favor of the five minute grace period — which supporters say would benefit drivers at muni-meter spots and alternate side parking zones and cut down on "gotcha" ticketing — allegedly assaulted a traffic agent who he thought was unfairly ticketing him.
According to the tabloid, George Collazo, 23, believed that the grace period had already gone into effect when he returned to his car in Westchester Square on Thursday afternoon and spotted a ticketing agent in the process of writing him a violation. Unfortunately for Collazo, the proposal has not yet been made law because Bloomberg has not yet signed it (In fact, the mayor says he will veto the legislation — meaning that in order to override his decision, the Council will need a two-thirds vote in support of the grace period).
But that didn't stop Collazo from reportedly wrestling the hand-held computer from ticketing agent Sophia Sewer's hands and throwing it on the ground, in the process "bending her finger back," according to the tabloid. "I get a five-minute grace period. It was in the media, today on the news," he reportedly yelled. A witness said the suspect had purchased extra parking time from a muni-meter just before the altercation occurred.
