Frustrated drivers would get a reprieve from pricey parking tickets if Councilman David Greenfield’s proposal to require the city to paint curbs around fire hydrants red becomes law.
Greenfield (D-Brooklyn) said the measure would help drivers ascertain how much space they have to park legally, since city law forbids parking within 15 feet of a hydrant.
“This is a common-sense solution to a common problem. Drivers shouldn’t have to keep tape measures in their glove boxes to determine where they can park,” Greenfield said. “Now, people are afraid to park anywhere close to a parking spot” near a hydrant. “You could literally open up tens of thousands of parking spots.”
Drivers currently are slapped with $115 tickets for parking within a hydrant zone.
Council Speaker Christine Quinn did not respond to a request for comment on the bill, and a Department of Transportation official was unsure how much the measure would cost.
The agency did not take a position on the proposal, and the Fire Department did not object.
The Council’s Transportation Committee chairman, James Vacca (D-Bronx), seemed to favor the red-curb bill, though he said he would hold out taking a firm position until he knows its cost.
“There is no defense for blocking a hydrant, but . . . rather than guess or assume, drivers should know clearly whether they are right or wrong,” Vacca said.
Greenfield is also pushing a separate measure — introduced by Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Queens) earlier this year — to reduce the hydrant parking limit to 10 feet on either side instead of the current 15 feet.
The lawmakers insist a fire truck does not need 30 feet to park when battling a fire — especially since the vehicles generally double-park to reach blazes faster.
“This would give at least on every block of the city one additional parking spot,” Dromm said. “There’s a hydrant on almost every block in the city. People are always complaining that there aren’t enough parking spots.”
But the FDNY immediately threw cold water on that proposal, saying they need every inch of the 30 feet to “nose into” a spot near a hydrant.
“We need that 15 feet on each side of the hydrant to access the hydrant. The [truck] itself is a minimum of 30 feet,” FDNY spokesman James Long said.
(Source: NY Post)
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8 Responses
He’s right. What’s worse, the agent doesn’t have to prove you were parked wihin 15 feet of a hydrant. I went in person and fought such a ticket with the claim that I measured and was 15 feet away. It was my word against the agent. I asked how the agent knew I wasn’t, and if agents do in fact carry around a tape measure (they don’t). The agents use their judgement to make such a determination and it comes down to whose judgement is correct. A very subjective determination, to a law that is very objective. The law is clear. 15 feet of clearance from a hydrant. Either you are, or are not. The way things stand now, you could be 17 feel away, but if the agents believes its less than 15, they can write a ticket with no burden of proof whatsoever. The red lines are very clear.
This is a crazy idea, who is supposed to pay to paint all the curbs, this is real money that we overtaxed NYC citizens have to pay, it doesn’t come from nowhere. THere is a very simple way of seeing how far away from the hydrant, look at the sidewalk squares each 1 is 5’x5′ so if you’re 3 squares away your good.
Bad move. Now you can get away with parking less than 15 feet from a hydrant sometimes. This will now ruin it. It will take away those parking spots that are 13-14 feet from a hydrant that normally didn’t get ticketed.
On a side note, one time I measured the distance from a hydrant to the closest parking meter and it was less around 12 feet! Yes the city made a legal parking spot less than 15 feet from a hydrant. Let the FDNY fight that! And when was the last time a fire truck “parked” when they got to a fire? The reason why you can’t park near the hydrant is not for the truck to park but rather for access to the hydrant. Out of NYC, they require less than 10 feet to a hydrant. This is all one big scam.
I have heard from a traffic agent that they base their estimation on the number of “sidewalk boxes” between the car and hydrant. Each box is supposed to be 4 feet long so if you park your car at a distance of 4 boxes away from the hydrant you will not be ticketed.
What’s crazy is that a very objective law is measured so subjectively.
who wants to live in a city with red paint on every street all over the place there is atleast 5-6 hydrents on every block thats a lot of paint that will make the city look ugly
How about removing all the hydrants that don’t work? That would free up lots of spots.
I dont know what you’re moaning about. Its a brill idea. Very clever! (esp as i dont live near ny!)
anyway best way to avoid parking tickets… Leave your windshield wipers on… 🙂