The blaze hydrant. For decades, it has been feared by any New York City-limits disciplinarian who dares to adventure out after a band measure. If your car comes aural 15 anxiety of a hydrant, the next affair you apperceive you may be at the tow pound, acrimonious it up with a several hundred dollar bill.
Ticketing and towing cars both serve a accessible service. Nevertheless, I was analytical to see which hydrants in New York are amenable for the a lot of tickets. If a accurate abode had a huge amount of tickets, I doubtable that something ability be amiss. And with some advice from NYC Open Data, I launched my so alleged "investigation".
And attending what I stumbled upon.
Meet the hydrant opposite 152 Forsyth St in Manhattan.
Between August 15th and March 26, 2014, cars actuality accept been ticketed 187 times! Those fines add up to $21,505 or annualized more than $33,000 a year. And that is afore towing fees. That is the accomplished acquirement breeding hydrant in all of New York City. But, and there is a huge but, I'm academic that all of these cars were anchored legally.
Let me explain.
If you attending at these shots from Google Artery View, there is what appears to be a adequate bike lane amid area all of these cars are anchored and the hydrant:
So that raises the question: can you accurately esplanade in foreground of a hydrant if there is a adequate bike lane amid you?
Let's ask the DOT:
@alexsilverman Yes – if there is a appointed apparent parking amplitude and the pertinent parking assurance authorizes parking.
— NYC DOT (@NYC_DOT) October 3, 2012
Designated Parking Space? Check. Assurance Authorizing Parking? Check again.
And yet on September 9th, two tickets were accustomed actuality at 9:42 and 9:43 AM, one was accustomed at 1:06PM, one was accustomed at 3:42PM and one at 5:49PM. And that's just one day.
So what's the deal? One approach is that technically, the lane abaft the cars is not a adequate bike lane. You would never apperceive it by searching at it, but it is not corrective and there are no markings. It is artlessly an abandoned amplitude that humans bike in. Should that matter? Probably not, but the NYPD ability anticipate otherwise. Unless this is a advised attack to ability a "honeypot," there should be clearer arrangement on the pavement to abstain this acutely approximate ticketing.
[Ed. Note: The Department of Transportation accepted in a statement that this is absolutely not a adequate bike lane but a barrier extension. The DOT said it has not accustomed complaints about the location, but it "will analysis the artery arrangement and accomplish any adapted alterations."]
And amazingly, the fun on Forsyth does not stop there. There is addition hydrant, just down the block, adverse from 104 Forsyth:
This is the the additional a lot of ticketed hydrant in all of NYC. 139 tickets in 7.5 months. Addition $25,000 a year at this rate.
What can we do about this? I'd like to see the DOT use this array of abstracts to analyze hot spots that charge bigger signage and artery markings, or area administration ability charge to be changed. It may beggarly hardly beneath acquirement for the city, but action candor is a virtue.
And delay a minute, what's that on the Mini Cooper's windshield on Google Artery View?
Sorry buddy. See you at the tow pound.
For allegory purposes, amuse see this properly corrective spot in the aforementioned situation, area the DOT has added stripes to mark the atom as illegal.
This column originally appeared in two parts on I Quant NY and is republished actuality with permission.
Ben Wellington is a visiting abettor assistant at the City-limits & Regional Planning affairs at the Pratt Institute. His blog I Quant NY tells belief gleaned from allegory NYC Open Data.
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