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NYPD Cars in 'No Ticket Zone' Create Parking Headache for Neighbors

By Gustavo Solis | September 25, 2015 11:53am | Updated on September 27, 2015 11:13pm
 Several vehicles with NYPD placards were parked in front of fire hydrants near Bradhurst Avenue Thursday. Residents say this has been going on for years. 
Parking in Front of Hydrants
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HARLEM — All six fire hydrants on 146th, 147th, and 148th streets off Bradhurst Avenue were illegally blocked Thursday afternoon, most by NYPD vehicles.

Some vehicles had placards that read “Unmarked Vehicle,” “Restricted Parking Plate,” and “Off-Street Parking ID,” displayed on the dashboard. Most of them are from the NYPD, but some permits bore the mark of the Department of Sanitation. None of the cars had parking tickets.

"This is something that constantly happens," said Nat Antman, 40, who lives on Bradhurst Avenue, a couple of blocks away from the Police Service Area 6 building in Harlem.

Parking in front of fire hydrants isn’t the only traffic law being ignored. Both police and civilian vehicles routinely neglect alternate-side parking signs and face no consequences for staying in one spot for weeks on end, neighbors claim.

“I don’t think it sends a good message,” Antman said. “It sets a dangerous precedent.”

The doorman at a building on Bradhurst Avenue and 146th Street said the parking problem dates to about 2013.

A silver Land Rover has been parked in front of the building for a month, but nobody does anything about it, according to the doorman James Greene. He said he called 311, but was told that if the vehicle didn’t have a ticket there’s nothing they could do about it.

The Land Rover is parked in a legal space but does not move for the street sweeper on alternate side parking days, Greene said.

The only positive aspect of what Greene called the "no ticket zone," is that those who are lucky enough to snag a parking space don’t have to worry about moving their car on street-cleaning day.

"All the way down Bradhurst cars don’t move," he said. "If you have a spot, you like it. I don’t hear them complaining about the parking."

An officer who works at the PSA 6 building on Seventh Avenue between 147th and 148th streets said that officers are asked not to park in front of the fire hydrants. They keep everyone’s keys in the same place so that they can move vehicles in case there is an emergency, he said.

Although the four-story building that takes up most of the block has a large parking lot, there are only five spots available for police officers. The rest are for other agencies that occupy the building, he added.

After the NYPD press office was sent photos of the blocked hydrants, they promised to enforce the parking laws in the area.

"Enforcement will be taken on any illegally parked vehicles as well as unauthorized vehicles parked in the area. We will continue to monitor the situation to ensure the condition is corrected," officials said in a statement.

The FDNY and the Department of Sanitation did not immediately respond to questions about the parking situation.