New Delhi
12 December 2005
New Yorkers can now celebrate Diwali without having to worry
about parking rules. On December 8, the New York City Council unanimously voted to
override the mayor's veto on the Bill introduced by a Democrat member from Manhattan,
Ms Gale A Brewer.
Accordingly, Diwali became the first Hindu festival on which day "alternative side of
street parking" rules will be suspended, which is considered a recognition of the festival
short of declaring a public holiday. New York already suspends the parking rules for
Jewish, Christian and Muslim holidays.
"If you park on the street, on alternate days, the car has to be moved in order to permit
cleaning trucks to clean the side; on certain holidays you don't -- and therefore can leave
it parked in place for another day," a campaigner told this newspaper via email.
The mayor, however, vetoed the Bill "because it means another day when the streets
don't get cleaned". He feared that if parking is suspended on Diwali, there will be nothing
to prevent other religious groups from asking for their own days.
The Indian community successfully campaigned for the two-thirds majority vote (34
votes) required in the 51-member Council to override the mayor's veto. The Bill had been
previously approved unanimously by the Council on September 28 after which it went to
the mayor.
The alternate side of the street parking rules were introduced in the 1950s so curb lanes
could be cleared for the sanitation department to clean the streets.
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