Bloomberg Halts Meter Hikes Thanks to Soup Sit-Down

Split pea and matzo ball soup may have saved the day for city motorists.

Mayor Bloomberg officially scuttled his plan Thursday to hike meter rates a quarter an hour in the outer boroughs – but his decision came only after a private tete-à-tete with City Councilman Jimmy Vacca (D-East Bronx.)

Vacca had the split pea while the mayor ordered the matzo ball variety during a 45-minute, one-on-one luncheon Dec. 30 at George’s Diner in Pelham Bay.

It was there that Vacca, chairman of the Council’s Transportation committee, pleaded his case to spare motorists and small businesses the havoc that the meter rate hike would have wrought.

“I had a rare opportunity to bring up my issues with the mayor, face to face,” said Vacca. “I talked, he listened and I could tell that he took my words to heart.”

The mayor slipped the rate hike into the 2011 fiscal budget in early last month as a so-called “budget modification” not requiring a Council vote.

The hike, to have taken effect as early as this month, would have raised hourly rates up from 75 cents to a dollar. The last rate hike in 2009 boosted the 50-cent rate set in 1992.

In Westchester Square, Bronx motorists rejoiced over the mayor’s decision.

“Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you for giving us another few months,” said Dolores Pasti, 74, of Morris Park, as she fed a Muni-Meter. “It’s like a reprieve.”

“I’m thrilled,” said Mark Mishal, 49, manager of ABC Superstore. “The economy is bad as it is and every quarter counts.”

“Jimmy Vacca has his finger on the pulse of New York and he came through big-time for us,” said John Bonizio, owner of Metro Optics. “He’s the conscience of the Council.”

After Vacca and the mayor’s luncheon, there was political horse-trading to be done.

To gain Council members’ support on across-the-board agency budget cuts, Vacca said Bloomberg ceded ground on items key members viewed as especially important.

“When I get something in my craw I don’t let it go and this, this was in my craw,” said Vacca, who also credited Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) and Councilwoman Diana Reyna (D-Brooklyn) in the fight. “This was just not fair.”