Brooklyn – Councilman David G. Greenfield will introduce legislation on Wednesday aimed at increasing legal parking spaces in New York City. The bill would require that all non-functioning fire hydrants across the five boroughs be painted green to signify that parking next to the hydrant is permissible. Greenfield, who has introduced and co-sponsored several pieces of legislation aimed at making parking easier for New Yorkers, believes that this latest bill will not only increase the number of legal parking spaces, but will also address safety concerns arising from non-repair of broken hydrants.
“I drafted this bill with an eye toward making it easier to park in New York City,” said Councilman Greenfield. “However, I believe there are also added safety benefits. Residents will be able to easily identify a broken hydrant on their street thanks to a coat of green paint. Not to mention, firefighters responding to emergencies won’t waste precious seconds trying to connect to a broken hydrant.”
Comptroller John Liu released an audit in January detailing the number of non-functioning “high-priority” hydrants throughout the city and the Department of Environmental Protection’s repair response time, which was shockingly low in some areas, particularly Councilman Greenfield’s home borough of Brooklyn. High priority hydrants are defined as those located next to a hospital, school or senior citizens’ residence, or any that are the only fire hydrants on their block. The audit only explored high priority hydrants, meaning hundreds of other “low priority” hydrants could remain non-operational for weeks or months.
“By the Department of Environmental Protection’s own admission, many hydrants are broken across New York City,” noted Councilman Greenfield. “DEP estimates that, at any give time, over 1,000 hydrants are non-operational. That means upwards of 3,000 parking spaces could be available on city streets. Not to mention that over 1,000 non-operational hydrants puts New Yorkers at risk. A quick coat of paint will keep New Yorkers and first-responders informed. Hopefully, it will also encourage DEP to keep up with hydrant repairs.”
(YWN Desk – NYC)
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5 Responses
Great idea. Here’s another one: Since firetrucks block the whole street, anyhow, how about making the hydrant in middle of the road, flat on the ground? Next question, if parking next to a hydrant is so dangerous, why did the city leave piles of snow for a few weeks blocking hundreds of hydrants?
Why not fix them?
How is a motorist to know which hyrdands are non functioning?
From what I’ve seen recently in Boro Park parking at hydrants is commonplace already.
Wonderful idea. I can see the price of green paint skyrocketing as every New Yorker arms himself with a can so that he can create an instant parking spot for himself!
it’s a great idea, but what makes him think that a city which doesn’t have the funds/workers/organization to fix fire hydrants in a timely manner will be able to keep on top of painting hydrants?