Alternate Side of the Street Parking in N.Y. Suspended on All Major Jewish Holidays

A bill requiring suspension of alternate side of the street parking regulations in New York City on all major Jewish holidays was signed into law today by Mayor John V. Lindsay. The city has suspended for many years application of the alternate side parking regulations on major religious and public holidays but this has been done as an administrative practice. The measure provides that the parking bans, arranged to allow street cleaning by city crews, will not be applied on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, the first two and last two days of Succot, the first two and last two days of Passover and Shavuot. In addition to public holidays, the ban also is lifted for Christmas and Easter. in signing, the Mayor said that on the religious holidays “a great number of people stay home or do not use their automobiles for religious reasons.” The new law will prevent such administrative errors as that which occurred two years ago when dozens of Jews found their parked cars ticketed for violation of the ban on Shavuot, At the intervention of the National Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs (COLPA), the summonses were dismissed. The summonses carry penalties of up to $25 for each offense. Julius Berman, COLPA president, testified at the public hearing called by the mayor prior to signing the measure into law. Mr. Berman said the legislation demonstrated that the city administration was concerned about the needs of all groups in the city, including observant Jews.