Res. No. 369
Resolution calling upon Mayor Bloomberg to apologize to the family of Onofrio Avvinti for his insensitive remarks surrounding the tragic death of Mr. Avvinti, who suffered a heart attack after receiving a ticket for double parking.
By Council Members Recchia, Barron, Fidler, Gentile, Nelson and Quinn
Whereas, According to published reports, on Saturday, April 10, 2004, Onofrio Avvinti double parked his 2002 Honda sport-utility vehicle in front of the Met Foodmarket on 20th Avenue between 72nd and 73rd Streets, in Brooklyn, to wait for his wife, Carmela, while she shopped inside the supermarket; and
Whereas, According to published reports, while double parked, two New York City Traffic Enforcement Agents pulled up to Mr. Avvinti’s vehicle and one of them issued him a $115 ticket for double parking; and
Whereas, According to published reports, Mr. Avvinti, upset at getting the ticket, tried to talk to the Traffic Enforcement Agent who ignored him and placed the ticket on the windshield of Mr. Avvinti’s vehicle; and
Whereas, According to published reports, Mr. Avvinti began to have a heart attack in front of the traffic agent’s car as it was pulling away; and
Whereas, According to published reports, the traffic agent’s car was forced to stop as it was pulling away because Mr. Avvinti was blocking its path, due to the fact that he staggered in the street while he was stricken with a heart attack; and
Whereas, Mr. Avvinti’s family has accused the Traffic Enforcement Agents of ignoring his pleas for help and a passerby’s plea for them to call an ambulance to come to the aid of Mr. Avvinti after he began to suffer his heart attack; and
Whereas, City and Police officials discounted the allegations by the Avvinti family and indicated that the Traffic Enforcement Agents were unaware that Mr. Avvinti needed help, claiming that a surveillance videotape showed Mr. Avvinti loading groceries into his vehicle and that the Traffic Enforcement Agents left four minutes before he suffered the heart attack; and
Whereas, After the surveillance videotape was released and made public, Mayor Bloomberg stated that “the story is one thing, the facts are another thing,” apparently suggesting that the Avvinti family had fabricated the story about Onofrio Avvinti’s death; and
Whereas, A clear copy of the surveillance videotape does not support the accounts by Police Officials or City Hall and shows that Mr. Avvinti began suffering his heart attack while the Traffic Enforcement Agents’ car was still right in front of him, and at no time were groceries given to him by his wife or loaded into his vehicle; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon Mayor Bloomberg to apologize to the family of Onofrio Avvinti for his insensitive remarks surrounding the tragic death of Mr. Avvinti, who suffered a heart attack after receiving a ticket for double parking.
LS# 952
RA - 4/29/2004
H:/word/resolutions/recchia/ls#952