Queens residents angry, fearful over blocked fire hydrants

QUEENS - Residents of Ozone Park, Queens, are demanding action as cars in the neighborhood continue to park in front of fire hydrants.

This comes after the FDNY shared images of cars in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, blocking hydrants near the scene of a deadly fire, reportedly impeding their firefighting efforts.

What are residents saying?

What they're saying:

"The biggest concern is, is that what happened Sunday night, that someone's going to die because of a blocked fire hydrant," Sam Esposito, President of the Ozone Park Residents Block Association, said.

Esposito said he does not want what happened in Bay Ridge early Sunday morning happening in Ozone Park, Queens. 

"I'm begging New Yorkers in all five boroughs please do not leave your car on hydrants," FDNY Commissioner Robert S. Tucker said. 

Esposito said this has been an issue happening in Ozone Park for years. 

"I would say 60% to 70% of our hydrants are blocked through the night," Esposito said.

The Block Association sent a letter to city council, senators, Mayor Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul demanding that blocking a fire hydrant be treated as a more serious offense, rather than just a minor summons. 

"What we're saying is maybe they can have traffic to midnight tours because traffic don't do midnight tours. So we have traffic out writing summonses, just fire hydrants during the midnight hour. It would give the police a break from having to write those summonses," Esposito said.

Esposito said within the last five years he has made more than a thousand 311 calls, reporting such matters, claiming the response times for 311 complaints about blocking a hydrant have been alarmingly delayed. 

"The 311 calls that come in for five blocked fire hydrants take priority," Esposito said.

What did the NYPD say?

The other side:

In a statement to FOX 5, a spokesperson for the NYPD said they take hazardous parking violations seriously. 

"Last year, the NYPD issued 9,445 parking summonses for blocked fire hydrants within the confines of the 106 precinct – the precinct that encompasses Ozone Park. This is a 10% increase from the year prior where 8,568 summonses were issued for blocked fire hydrants," the NYPD said. 

Bay Ridge fire 

Timeline:

The fatal fire happened around 3:45 a.m. on Sunday at a four-story in an apartment building on 80th Street between 5th and 6th Avenue ib Bay Ridge.

The FDNY said that the fire started on the third floor of the building. 

Police said that they found a 37-year-old man unconscious and unresponsive. He was taken to NYU Langone Hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.

Police also found a 34-year-old woman and a 2-year-old boy. They were also taken to the hospital in stable condition, police said. 

The fire was placed under control at 4:39 a.m.