How I Fought a Fire Hydrant Parking Ticket and Won

I got a ticket for parking in front of a fire hydrant and the parking ticket says 6 feet. It’s actually 9 feet. I know you stress the importance of the ticket being accurate, but is this something I actually want to bring up given that I was still in violation of 15′?

Also, is raising the fact that there’s no sign as to how far you have to be a decent argument worth bringing up? I’m afraid I have to pay this ticket :/

Hey Larry,

Back to the forum with another question for you. I got a ticket for parking in front of a hydrant yesterday. I felt that I had given sufficient space, but the parking officer clearly disagreed.

On the place of occurrence, the location of my bike was listed as 5 feet from 6th avenue on the SW corner of 16th street. So here’s the question, 6th Ave is some 50 feet from the hydrant. Which would mean that at the most I would have been 45 feet from the hydrant. But here’s the rub, the location as described by the officer would have put my bike in the middle of the crosswalk (and I clearly would not have parked there.) In your estimation, is it worth fighting? If so, how would you approach it?

Thanks in advance!

Ross

Hey Larry,
I recently recieved a parking ticket for parking “4 feet from hydrant” in front of 42-24 9th st Long island city. I pled not guilty on the app and submitted a photo of my vehicle at the time of occurrence, which shows me more than 4ft, but less than 15 away from the hydrant. After reading your article, I looked the location up on google maps and the far edge of the door labeled with 4224 is exactly at the end of the red line indicating 15ft from the hydrant, with the door not appearing to be within the 15ft at all, depending on the angle of view. The few buildings behind the hydrant, next to the address of occurance are unmarked with the next legible address being 42-32. Where is the line interpreted as far as address of occurrence is concerned? Did i already seal my fate by sending the picture of my vehicle within 15ft of the hydrant? Is there anything you think I could do to get out of the ticket?
Any advice on how to handle this further?

Thank you!
Sam

Hi Larry,
How do I send this information? Do I just place the hydrant ticket along with the testimony and exhibits into the envelope that comes with the ticket and then send it or is there anything else I’m required to do?

Another question: if the yellow marking on the curb by the hydrant ends less than 15′ away (around 8 or 9 feet in my case and I was parked 2 feet past that – so ultimately 11 feet from the hydrant) can that go in my defense?

Thanks

Hi Lawrence,

Thank you for the detailed article. A few weeks ago, I got a parking ticket because I left my car in front of a hydrant to run a few things up to my apartment. I was parked on Bennett Ave in upper Manhattan. The warrior wrote down “opposite of 24 Bennett Ave”, but the hydrant is actually located opposite of “42 Bennett Ave.” (24 and 42 Bennett Ave are connected buildings, but there is no fire hydrant within 15 feet of 24 Bennett Ave. So the warrior misdescribed the location of the hydrant. Do you think this is worth fighting?

Hi Larry,

I received a fire hydrant violation notice in the mail today that my car was illegally parked on 08/12/2018. I did not get a ticket on the windshield of my car, or it was removed by the time I got to it.

The notice indicates that the violation occurred at 16 71st Street in Brooklyn on 08/12/2018. There is no fire hydrant in front of that house. The fire hydrant is on the opposite side of the street next to a school. The notice does not say the location was opposite 16 71st street.

Thank you,

Hi Larry,

Found this post looking up what I could do to fight a parking ticket for being too close to a hydrant – I disagree that I was too close, and since I got the ticket I’ve observed a car parked in the same spot I was ticketed for every single day, without being ticketed. So frustrating!! Making matters worse, the ticket was crumpled and stuffed under my wiper so I didn’t even notice it, and therefore went on my way without photographing my parked car.

Using your advice, I carefully reviewed my ticket. Unfortunately, I found no errors. Under “Place of Occurrence”, it does correctly cite the address of the building I was parked in front of, and it’s written as: “Front of xx-xx Such-and-Such Road”.

Here is my question: The building is a very large apartment building that takes up almost an entire block, and there is a hydrant in front of the building. However, the hydrant is not in front of, or within 15 feet of, the front doors and marked address of the building. Is it worth it to try and fight the ticket, using photos of the front doors and marked address as evidence, or am I out of luck because the building is so large and there is technically a hydrant in front of it?

With the “New” parking and bicycle lanes now on Second Avenue (UES 42 to 86th streets), the cars are parked substantially further away from the curbs (almost 10’) as well as from the actual fire hydrants. As such is the 15 foot requirement based on the Radius or perpendicular from the 15 foot mark (i.e., a Right Angle)?

Hi Larry,
I received a ticket via mail saying I blocked a pump at a given address. There was no ticket placed on my vehicle. There is no hydrant at the place of occurrence. I took all the necessary pictures to dispute the ticket, but when I entered the violation online, it states the same place of occurrence, but it says “Opposite of”, in which case there is a hydrant there. The mailed notice does not say opposite of. Do you think there is a chance of fighting this, possibly by mail?

Hi Larry I received a ticket
Saying I was 0 feet from the pump and I was in the driver seat waiting a while for someone to come down and looks like I drifted off to sleep for a few minutes and when I woke up I saw the ticket on my windshield, the place of occurance is correct the only thing that I could see is that
Complainant comments is empty

How could I proof that I was in the car?

the best way I have found to beat any kind of parking ticket is to carry a tape measurer in your vehicle. if you get a ticket, look at what its for (let say its the within 15ft of the hydrant), take pictures of everything before doing anything that way you will have evidence you haven’t touched anything. then take out the tape measurer, lay it on the ground and measure from the fire hydrant to the front or back of your car. if its more than 15ft you are in the clear.

Larry,

First off, I want to thank you for posting this resource. There’s little more thrilling in life than the feeling you get when you “beat the man” (eg: contesting a parking ticket, and WINNING!)

Which leads me to my second point, I recently used your guide here as a resource to compile my own 13-page fire-hydrant violation appeal, AND I WON. SUCCESS STORY!

I would like to share my 13-page appeal document with you and your beleaguered readers as a thank you, and to pay-it-forward. If this is something you’d like, I’ll email it to you (please email me so I can respond back to you), and you can decide whether my guide is something that would be valuable/educational for your readers on your blog.

Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

How do they decide when to tow a car? I got ticket for being 7’ from hydrant, which seemed harsh but was true. But why’d they tow it?! That’s where the real $ pain is coming from.

New to New York and living in Brooklyn with a car.

Moved the car for street sweeping late at night, too late to get a “good” spot. Drove around and found one, if I nudged *really* close to the car behind me, leaving the front of my car between 8 and 9 feet from the short pole around the hydrant. (same as the car with NY tags on the other side of the hydrant).

Went to move the car at 10am this morning to a better spot. This story has a happy ending. No ticket. But now I’m googling to be better informed.

15 feet, or less if crossing fingers is your style. Thanks for sharing your research/experience.

Hi Lawrence – my car was parked in front of a hydrant but away from the curb, about half way to being doubled parked. I went inside to get some coffee and then I saw an officer come up to write a ticket. I literally ran out and told the officer that I was here and will move my car. He was right in front of me as I was talking to him and he just scanned my registration to print the ticket.

Is there anyway I can fight this?
It’s a similar situation with the person sleeping in the car, as the person was physically there to move it.

Hi there
I was parked next to a pole that pointed no standing anytime to one side, and no parking anytime to the other side. I was with my father who had a disabled placard and we were parked on the side of the pole pointing no parking . Less than 15 feet away was a hydrant . I received a hydrant ticket . Seems to me that the placement of signage is contradictory and ambiguous . Do I have a shot to fight and win ?

Hi Lawrence,
My father car was recently ticketed in front of his own house for parking 5 feet from the hydrant located in front of his neighbor’s house. He has parked in that spot for 35+ years without issue, and his driveway separates the two houses, so from his photos of the unmoved car, the hydrant is easily a car’s length away from the front bumper. His dispute was rejected as follows: “The undated photographs show a vehicle parked some undetermined distance from a fire hydrant and are not dispositive of how the vehicle was parked at the time of the violation”. We want to appeal by timestamping the photos and making a better case, but how do we clearly show the 15ft rule had been satisfied?

Hi I got a parking ticket for parking near Fire Hydrant.
I am new to the USA, my first week here and and the very first trip while driving. I was not aware about the law that Parking near fire hydrant is NOT allowed. There was No sign also.
This is NOT common in my country of residence.
This was my genuine argument. Do you think I should get a waiver with this argument ?

Thanks for all the helpful information. I have two questions— if the car was a rental, is there anything different I need to do? Also, the described location was W/S of Street X (correct) and then 100ft from S street x. How can I verify whether that’s accurate or not? Do I have to measure distance from the other street, where does the street technically start? Is it actually helpful to measure the street in reference of the pic taken? Also i did not get a picture of this angle, but I was parked a bit away from the sidewalk, maybe half a foot. Can i use that in any measurement calculations without a clear pic of that?

I just got a fire hydrant ticket it says 6ft away
if i move my car back alot and take a picture with the ticket in my hand clearly showing that it says 6ft when my car is not 6ft as shown
will it maybe be dismissed? im scared i have to pay

Hi, Please help me to figure out this. I parked a semi-truck in m apartment complex to move out furniture. I left a note for the security on the windshield that I am a resident and I will be right back if anything calls me with my apartment # and phone #. I was in m apartment working on moving boxes when I came downstairs within less than an hour I didn’t find my truck! he called the police they gave me a ticket and they tow my truck! it cost me 1000 to get it back from the towing company and still unsure how much the ticket is! they say it was close to the fire lane! do they have the right to tow the truck? what can I do in this case to get out of it? and how can I return my money from the leasing office? I have seen many moving trucks parking in the same place before

Hi Larry,

Thanks for all the helpful previous posts. I’ve got my own question, too.
I let my friend borrow my car and he (may have) parked it too close to a fire hydrant and did not return to the car until about a day and a half later to find 3 parking tickets on the windshield, all for parking too close to the hydrant and all issued within 16 hours, amounting to $345.

My friend felt very guilty (as he should) and immediately requested a hearing when he found the tickets but did not provide any evidence and just claimed that getting 3 tickets for the same thing in that short a time span was ridiculous, which obviously wouldn’t work.

I got the hearing decision back today and we have been deemed guilty for all 3 tickets and I’m wondering if it’s worth it to try and appeal? The judge cited that more 3 hours are in between each ticket, which makes them valid. I read something in one of the earlier cases how you cannot provide new evidence for the appeal. Did I read that correctly? Because I might be able to do something similar to the photos from your exhibits because the distances on the tickets noted for place of occurrence are inconsistent and vary by 15 feet.

However, I am nervous because the appeal application notes that interest can be added to the ticket value and my car can still be towed while in the appeal process. $345 is already a lot of money.

What would you advise?

Thank you.

I got a fire hydrant ticket in front of 65-75 Pike St. The building for this address is huge. There are 2 fire hydrants that you can see via google maps. is there any defense for this ticket?

Hi Larry-

Been following your posts for years. Do you know if anyone has successfully fought a ticket on the basis that an officer perjured herself? I was picking up my daughter from school, parked by a hydrant, stepped out of the vehicle so she could see where I was and an officer started writing a ticket. I said “I’m right here” and got back in the vehicle. She ignored what I said and placed the ticket on the windshield. I was present to accept notice, an instead affixed the ticket to the vehicle. Under the penal law 210.45, she did not follow the rules as stated…and in addition wrote, “no driver, no permit, no activity” while I was in the vehicle. Thoughts?

Hi Larry,

I recently received a ticket for parking in front of a fire hydrant that is located right in front of my apartment in Queens. I park here EVERY DAY and not once have I ever gotten a ticket. I got home late last night after working an evening shift at MSKCC in NYC, parked my car, and went straight to bed without a second thought, as this COVID-19 pandemic has all of us healthcare workers picking up extra shifts. The Warrior noted my car was 9 feet away from the hydrant which was in fact true, however my address is 166-12 and he wrote down 166-16 which is located on the corner of the street with no fire hydrant in site. Would this be considered a misdescribed place of occurence?

Look forward to hearing from you!
Melissa

Hi Larry,
Thanks for this resource you offer. I got a ticket today for parking “6 feet” from a hydrant. I was actually closer to 13’ but may have been shy of 15’ (I measured with my iPhone measuring app). Here’s the deal: I parked in the same place last week. I had been a a little unsure last week if I was “legal” in this spot. And nearby I saw a DOT officer. I asked her if I was good in that spot and she said YES.

I didn’t get her name. I didn’t get a ticket last week.

This week I parked in that same spot again and I got a ticket.

Do I have any winnable defense here?

Hi Mr. Berezin,

Got a ticket last night for being 0 feet from hydrant. I was parked under the BQE in sunset park Brooklyn. A fire truck could never fit in there with all the cars stuffed under there. Also my car was not 0 feet away. A fire truck would need to park on 3rd avenue and access the front to hydrant. I was not parked on the street but behind the hydrant in parking lot.

I guess my question is whether the law is a 15 foot radius or whether either side of the hydrant means to the right and left and parked ON the street.

Any chance of fighting this?

I was under