By Adam Nichols
DNAinfo News Editor
Manhattan — Parking meters are going to need a lot more feeding if city plans to fill a budget gap are approved.
Officials want to dramatically raise rates depending on where and at what time motorists park, according to the New York Post.
The Mayor has already announced plans to hike rates at 60,000 meters from 75 cents to $1 per hour in residential areas, and from $2.50 to $3 in commercial areas.
But the new proposal would mean prices would be even higher at the busiest times of the day, and at the most desirable parking locations, the Post reported.
The Post didn't say how high the rates would rise or when the proposal would go into effect.
But drivers weren't slow to voice opposition.
"I'm absolutely outraged," Cynthia Santiago, 23, who works in Greenwich Village, told the newspaper.
"Parking in New York is unbelievable."
"It's a rip-off," said Alecsey Boldeskul, 39, of Brooklyn.
"The city needs to close a gap in the budget and one way to do it is raise parking prices. Mayor Bloomberg should leave drivers alone."
A pilot program for increased rates was recently completed in Greenwich Village, Park Slope in Brooklyn, and the Upper East Side.
More than half of the business owners and drivers in those areas said parking became easier.
