The Democrat mayoral candidate in New York City, Fernando Ferrer, is making an issue out of parking meters charging outside of churches on Sundays. "People shouldn't have to pay to pray," he said yesterday from the pulpit of the East Harlem Pentecostal church.

The practice of metered parking on Sundays was revived two years ago in the midst of a budget crisis. The practice generates $12 million a year in revenue.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg responded, "I don't know why it is inherently less fair to charge people to go to their place of religion than it is to go where they want to be entertained, or shop, or go to school or anything else."

"People shouldn't have to pay to pray," the Democrat, Fernando Ferrer, told worshipers at an East Harlem Pentecostal church, referring to the mayor's refusal to suspend metered parking near religious institutions on Sundays.