Much has been in made in the last week of the bill passed by the New York City Council that would eliminate the need to feed parking meters on Sundays. Mayor Bloomberg has been against this from the beginning and has vowed to veto the legislation, but mayoral aides acknowledge that they would likely not have the necessary votes to defeat an almost certain override. The vote in favor of the bill was 41 to 3.

Both Mayor Bloomberg and Transportation Commissioner Iris Weinshall have stated that many council members signed on to the bill because of election-year politics.

But is the elimination of Sunday parking meters merely a political ploy or will it really help New Yorkers?

Here are some interesting things to consider:

* In separate statements regarding eliminating the need to put money in the meters on Sundays, Mayor Bloomberg has said that it will cost the city $7 million in annual revenues from the meters, while Commissioner Weinshall has put the number at $12 million a year. Wouldn't one think that these figures should be more consistent?

* Whether city $7 million or $12 million, the figure is a mere fraction of the $500 million that the city reaps annually from parking tickets.

Commissioner Weinshall has stated "The purpose of meters, regardless of which day they are in effect, is to turn over parking spaces so that more customers and other individuals can gain access to a particular parking spot in busy commercial areas". High turnover, she added, made it easier for motorists to find parking spaces and reduced illegal parking in bus stops and at fire hydrants.

These statements raise an intriguing question:

* Judging by Commissioner Weinshall's remarks that free metered parking on Sundays will increase illegal parking, shouldn't the officials concerned with the city's revenue be rejoicing, considering that the city will earn much more money from an increase in parking tickets than it will lose from a decrease in meter revenue?

Up until 2002, metered parking was for the most part free on Sundays. Was the situation regarding low turnover and motorists hogging parking spaces so dire in "the good old days"?

Not according to the Rev. John Boyd, Sr., a pastor of New Greater Bethel Ministries in Queens Village. He states that the argument that drivers who hog spaces manipulate meters is incorrect - he's noticed more problems at his Jamaica Avenue church since the Sunday rules were implemented.

"I didn't have half the problems I'm having now," said Boyd.

Metered parking on Sundays in NYC is expected to become a thing of the past some time in September.

Erik Feder

Erik Feder wrote "The Feder Guide to Where to Park Your Car in Manhattan (and Where Not to Park It!)" after spending years searching for and occasionally finding parking spaces in Manhattan. For nearly two decades he was employed as a video editor and drummer, working and performing all over Manhattan. During this time, Erik was the unfortunate recipient of his share of parking tickets and also had his car towed four times! One of these towing incidences happened even though he had parked correctly; after fighting for four months, Erik received a check from the Department of Transportation for the money he had paid to get his car out of the pound. Little did he know at that time that about 15 years later, he would write a book that explained (among other things) how to fight being towed and ticketed in error. As a result of the extensive research required to compile this book, Erik has become a "Parking Expert" and is proud to say that he has not received a ticket or been towed since the commencement of that research.

The Feder Guide was entirely conceived, researched, compiled and edited by Erik; he also designed the cover and created the website. Erik was born and raised in New Jersey and went to Rutgers University in Newark where he has a Bachelor's Degree with a double major in Music (percussion performance) and video production. As a video editor in Manhattan, Erik worked for MTV, HBO, Showtime, Montel Williams and Maury Povich, among others. He later received a Master's Degree in Land Management and Land Tenure (focus on natural resource management) from the Technical University of Munich in Germany. Erik now lives with his wife Manuela Sander, in Long Beach, Long Island. Manuela received her degree in Tourism and Marketing management in Munich and designed the marketing plan for The Feder Guide