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City Council Votes For Muni-Meter Grace Period, Banishes Alternate-Side Stickers

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New Yorkers rejoice!

The City Council on Wednesday voted to override Mayor Michael Bloomberg on two issues that have long-plagued drivers in NYC.

They voted 50-0 to ban the city's use of the impossible-to-remove neon stickers that get plastered on the vehicles of those who violate alternate-side parking regulations.

1010 WINS' Holli Haerr Speaks With Happy Drivers

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In addition, the Council also voted 47-2 to allow for a 5-minute grace period at muni-meters before officers can issue a ticket.

Brooklyn Councilman David Greenfield has led the charge against the parking violation stickers, calling them a "punitive form of punishment."

"They're cruel, they're unfair and they're very difficult to try to remove," Greenfield said. "The job of the Sanitation Department should be to clean the city of New York, not to deface private property."

Drivers in the West Village know what it's like to cut it close at the muni-meters or get one of the much-maligned stickers on their cars. Some of them spoke of their frustrations with 1010 WINS reporter Holli Haerr.

"I've had people giving me tickets within three or two minutes," one man said.

"I actually had officers standing next to the car, waiting for the time to expire," another driver remarked.

Others like Tess Rose said she didn't even try to remove the alternate-side parking violation sticker from her car.

"It rained and slowly started to just come off and there was a big stain," she told Haerr.

"Driving in New York City is one of the most frustrating experiences," Greenfield said. "People try to do the right thing. They get a parking ticket, it's one thing. To deface their car with an impossible-to-remove sticker [is] quite another."

What do you think of a 5-minute muni-meter grace period and no more sticky stickers?  Share your thoughts below...

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