Rockville Centre Prepares To Roll Out 'Print And Save' Parking Meters

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Forget about clipping coupons. Soon, you will be able to print coupons right outside of the store.

The Village of Rockville Centre is ready to turn its downtown into the first in the country to feature parking meters that offer local discounts, CBS 2's Carolyn Gusoff reported.

The current meters are being replaced with "Print and Save" meters. The solar-powered kiosks accept credit cards as payment and print coupons for local stores.

MasterCard recently teamed up with the village to offer local shopping incentives.

"That's what this terminal provides -- the ability to pay for parking, identify the offer you want, a discount on dinner, the dry cleaner, whatever, and get that coupon," explained Seth Eisen, V.P. of Communications for MasterCard Worldwide.

Village officials said they hope the new meters will inspire people to shop locally.

"This is one more opportunity to help bring people back to our village to shop," Rockville Centre Mayor Francis Murray said.

Local business owners have cited parking as a roadblock to being able to compete with shopping malls.

"It's something people always say when they come in here. They had a tough time finding a spot," said Ben Leder, the fifth generation owner of Leder's Jewelry.

Villages across Long Island have been thinking outside of the box in an effort to lure shoppers. Port Jefferson has offered a parking app to find parking spaces, and in Westbury a competition is underway to design new solutions.

The Long Island Index Challenger is rethinking parking in four villages.

"Rethinking and redesigning parking can unlock the potential to revitalize downtowns," said June Williamson, design consultant for Long Island Index.

According to organizers, the old model of space hunting and meter feeding is killing downtowns.

Rockville Centre will have the first downtown in the nation to offer parking perks.

Merchants will pay a fee to offer their coupons on the kiosks, which will be installed later in October.

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