And on the seventh day, the meter readers rested and those with cars, especially those attending church, said it was good.

With little fanfare yesterday, the city’s Department of Transportation said it was enacting legislation passed nearly unanimously by the City Council last month over the mayor’s veto to eliminate so-called pay-to-pray parking on Sunday.

The city’s 72,000 parking meters will not need to be fed on Sunday starting this weekend. Though the city is still updating the thousands of parking signs at spots with coin operated and credit and cash operated meters, motorists are allowed to park at the metered spots without paying.

The mayor, who called the legislation an election year gimmick, argued last month that the legislation was a $15 million annual giveaway the city could ill afford. He also argued that it would not free up spaces for churchgoers, but simply encourage neighbors to sleep in on Sunday rather than move their cars.

Two Democrats of Queens, Council Members Helen Sears of Jackson Heights and Tony Avella of Bayside, opposed the council’s vote to override the mayor’s veto.

The council’s Transportation Committee chairman, John Liu, said he voted against the initial legislation to end metered parking on Sunday but decided to override the mayor nonetheless.

“The issue is, what is the fundamental purpose of a parking meter?” Mr. Liu said. “It’s not about collecting money or writing parking tickets, it’s about allocating scarce parking spaces by ensuring turnover.”

Much of the city was exempt from Sunday metering until the city’s budget crunch in 2002 led Mayor Bloomberg to expand the number of metered spots on Sundays. The policy change increased city revenues earned from meters. In fiscal 2004, the city collected $91 million from meters; about $7 million – or nearly 8% – was from Sunday parking, officials said at a hearing on the subject earlier this year before the council overrode the mayor’s veto.