A Brownsville man is suing the city and two officers of the 81st Precinct alleging he was unnecessarily tasered after cops gave him a double-parking ticket.

Jonathan Zimmerman, 26, a security guard, told reporters he was sitting in his car with a female friend outside her Bedford-Stuyvesant home when the two uniformed cops wrote him a ticket. After he and his lady friend disputed the parking ticket, one officer ordered him out of the car, Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman said he refused, and one of the cops then grabbed the keys from the ignition and maced him while he was still in his seat belt.

That’s when the cops pulled out their trusty tasers, and by the time they were done he had been tasered three times, Zimmerman said.

The official NYPD side of the story is that the officers ordered Zimmerman to move his car and after he began to talk back, he had to be restrained.

According to newspaper accounts, Zimmerman had an inch-long spur removed from his back and he went through a lot of pain. Additionally, the charges against him – resisting arrest and disorderly conduct – were dismissed.

The Civilian Complaint Review Board told Our Time Press the case remains under active investigation and a determination must be made within 18 months from the date of incident.

CCRB spokeswoman Linda Sachs said the investigation of the incident is “very close to completion.” -SW

Newsstands and the magazine police
A bill proposal floating through the City Council may end up triggering another battle of the sexes.

City Councilwoman Letitia James is charging that newsstands are exploiting black and brown women of color for featuring their scantily-clad bodies on covers of magazines and displayed prominently.

James wants the laws regarding the display of lewd photos strictly enforced down to the centimeter of how much a female’s buttocks or breasts can be exposed. She also wants to stiffen penalties for any newsstand operator that breaks the law.

James points to a recent report alleging newsstand operators are “going to great lengths to protect the image of white women on similar magazine covers.”

New York City Newsstand Operators Association spokesperson Rob Bookman said members of the association are very sensitive to the issue of their display of adult magazines.

“Having said that, this is constitutionally protected by the First Amendment,” said Bookman. “The Newsstand Association is happy to discuss these issues further with the Councilwoman as we have done in the past.” -SW

Things appear to be looking up for Bed-Stuy resident Luke Matheny after snagging an Oscar recently for his live action short comedy film “God of Love.”

Matheny a NYU Masters Film School graduate, and former reporter, currently has a movie he’s co-written, “A Birder’s Guide to Everything,” in pre-production, and is working on a feature comedy script called “Ron Quixote.”

Matheny’s website also notes he teaches writing and directing at the School of Cinema and Performing Arts (SOCAPA) in Brooklyn.