Did You Know You Can Stand Your Car at a Fire Hydrant During the Day but Not at Night?

Photo: David Boyle

In the legal weirdness category: Currently, drivers in New York City are allowed to temporarily stand at fire hydrants during daylight hours, but not at night.

Councilman David G. Greenfield (44th council district: Bensonhurst, Boro Park, and Midwood) says in an email that he heard from irate constituents who received tickets after dropping off passengers near fire hydrants at night.

So yesterday he introduced what he calls "common sense legislation" in the City Council that would allow motorists to temporarily stop at fire hydrants at all times as long "as they are ready to immediately move their vehicle in the case of an emergency."

“Allowing drivers to temporarily stop at fire hydrants to pick up and drop off passengers will reduce emissions from vehicles circling the block, free up other parking spaces and reduce double parking, which often brings our commercial strips to a standstill," he said.

Earlier this year, the City Council passed Greenfield’s legislation ending the city’s use of neon stickers (remember them?) to punish drivers violating alternate-side parking laws, and he says he played an instrumental role in passing legislation to give drivers a five-minute grace period when paying for parking at a nearby Muni-Meter.

Greenfield also supported a law allowing the use of Muni-Meter receipts on different blocks than where the receipt was issued. All of these bills were passed unanimously by the City Council over the objection of Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

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