Rockville Centre OKs free evening parking

In his first public action, new Rockville Centre Mayor Francis X. Murray announced that parking in Rockville Centre's downtown business district is now free after 6 p.m., officials said. The Village Board is scheduled to vote July 25 on a resolution confirming the change.

"We have responded to the concerns of visitors and business owners who said the village's parking meter enforcement was discouraging people from coming into Rockville Centre at night," Murray, whose father, Eugene Murray, was the village mayor from 1987 to 2007, said in a statement July 5.

"We don't want people worrying about getting a ticket while enjoying a meal or a movie."

The parking meter fees and aggressive ticketing in downtown Rockville Centre was the central issue during the run-up to the June 21 village elections, in which Murray unseated Mary W. Bossart, who had been mayor since 2007.

The village's police department will continue to enforce parking policy in no stopping, no standing, no parking, handicap and fire zones at all times, officials said.