That was fast. The city moved swiftly yesterday, adjusting a Citi Bike station placed in front a fire hydrant. Yesterday we posted a photo sent to us by a local resident concerned about a station that had been put in place on Montgomery Street (near Gouverneur Street), directly in front of the hydrant. Susan Stetzer, Community Board 3’s district manager, noticed the item and alerted the Department of Transportation. By the afternoon, workers were on the scene, removing several docks and making room for easier fire truck access.
The New York Post also got in on the action and, of course, took credit for ridding the city of one more menace. The story fit perfectly into the tabloid’s War on Citi Bike:
Bumbling workers dangerously put a Citi Bike rack right in front of a Lower East Side fire hydrant, infuriating residents… Citi Bike workers installed the rack in front of the hydrant — because a city map erroneously showed there was a defunct fire hydrant there, according to a DOT spokesman. Local residents said they were stunned by the move… “The city doesn’t think sometimes!” said Jason Simmons, a retired construction laborer. “They’d have to move the bikes to get a truck here. Maybe they can snake it through, but not if it’s all filled up.”
The station was originally located a short distance to the east, in front on a deli. The docks had to be moved because they were mistakenly located on private property.
Readers are, of course, always encouraged to send tips out way. You can also contact the community board directly about problematic Citi Bike locations. Click here to fill out a complaint form.
This is good news. When it comes to the parking rules in
front of hydrants, Citibank and their bike share stations should not be exempted.
Corporations such as Citibank have to follow the same parking rules as small
businesses do.
It suffices to say that any obstacles blocking full access
to hydrants can slow down emergency response times for all emergency vehicles. If
something happened while the bike stations blocked access to a building or
fire hydrant, the city and Citibank will be sued.
I believe you mean NYC and NYC Bike Share, operated by Alta, would be sued. Citibank is sponsor, not operator. You see to have this confused. Equivalent would be someone slipping at a Nets game and trying to sue Barclays.
Getting back to the main topic at hand, in the event of an
emergency, time is of the essence, every second counts. When trying to save lives, Emergency response professionals
should not have to maneuver over poorly placed bike stations when responding to
emergencies. No obstacles should stand in their way.