tigertail in new york

Ok - so I've been driving a lot in NYC.

This means I've had to park a lot in NYC.

Know what I can't stand?? Picture kind of gives it away, huh... That's right - HYDRANTS!!!

Scenario: You're driving down the block. It's very late or very early - in any case you've worked a long-arse day and you just want to get home. There's a big open parking spot right near your place Thank you! you silently pray to the parking gods. And then as you get closer you see it. Silent. Deadly. The Bloody Hydrant.

OK, so I can't park in front of it. But how close to it can I park? No-one seems to know exactly, and sometimes there seems to be enough space, but if you park there, sure enough you'll get a ticket. Or in worst case scenarios, the fire department will break your windows and run the hose through the car if they feel you're blocking the hydrant. There's one street near me where the block has 6 hydrants on it! And it's a small block - maybe 15 cars could park along each side.

Why is is in Australia the hydrants are underground, and you never have to worry about parking in front of them? How is it possible for us to fight fires without taking up half the street?

And then there's the whole water wastage thing - every single day in summer hydrants on my block are opened up and water gushes out and kids frolic. Which is picturesque and charming and adds character to the neighbourhood. The first few times I thought wow - this is so New York! It's just like in the movies! And then after several days straight I started to think about the planet and how back home people do everything they can to save water and help relieve drought conditions. Like having a bucket in the shower to catch the water before it gets hot enough to shower in and using it on the garden. Like the bans on washing our cars, watering the lawn and using water to clean driveways. Like using bore water to irrigate public green spaces.

And then I thought about how much drinking-quality water has flowed out of the hydrants on my block for hours on end for the last several weeks. Then I multiplied that by the number of blocks around me where I've seen it happen too. And then I thought about all the blocks all over the city where this happens... Add that to the lack of proper recycling in offices and in apartments, to the food wastage I see every single day and to the humongous SUVs and hummers I see driving around town that go through fuel like it's going out of style.. It's making me depressed people!!

Then there's the whole alternative street side parking thing... In order to clean the streets, everyone has to move their cars from certain sides of the road on certain days at certain times. These just usually coincided with the only place I could find to park, on days when I got home at 4 am from work, and didn't have to be up until the late afternoon. In those cases, I just couldn't get up 4 hours after going to bed to move the car - I just looked for parking further away and walked 8 blocks to my house.

But I shouldn't complain - it hasn't been that bad lately, and having a car at all is a very good and beneficial thing when I need to get to far away places. Or even Brooklyn on a weekend ;^) I just wish someone could explain to me why hydrants aren't underground here, and how far away I really have to park..

Posted by Ness on Friday, July 20, 2007 at 12:03 PM | Permalink