No skirting traffic rules, judge tells blind patient's husband

by Matthew Lysiak
daily news writer

Thursday, February 7th 2008, 4:00 AM

An elderly Brooklyn man slapped with a $115 parking ticket while picking up his blind wife from a dialysis clinic just got slapped again - this time by a judge, the Daily News has learned.

"These people are a nightmare," said Eugene Iannicelli, 84, who got the fine Dec. 19 after he couldn't find a parking spot near the Dyker Heights building where his wife Mary, 83, undergoes kidney dialysis. "Don't they have a heart?"

Just as Iannicelli double-parked near the center to escort his frail wife to the car, a traffic enforcement agent rolled up and wrote a summons.

The couple appealed the ticket, but Wednesday found out the city's bureaucracy could be just as cold as the heartless traffic agent.

City administrative law Judge Irwin Strum wrote that Iannicelli tried to "justify his conduct by reference to his wife's medical condition. ... While the moral obligation of a husband to an infirm wife is recognized, it is not a legal basis to excuse an individual's obligation to obey the New York Traffic Rules."

One good thing did come out of the Iannicellis' plight. City Councilman Vince Gentile (D-Bay Ridge) will today be joined by New Yorkers who read The News' story and plan to chip in to pay the fine.

"My office was flooded with calls from people, all strangers to the Iannicellis, but nonetheless outraged over how the city was treating an elderly couple trying their best to help each other through life," Gentile said.