Monday, December 26, 2016

SI hydrant story is a real lulu

Staten Island Advance/Rachel Shapiro
From SI Live:

An oddly placed sidewalk and fire hydrant alongside a Mariners Harbor street has some residents scratching their heads over its location.

A newly built house at 235 Dixon Ave., on the corner of Granite Avenue, includes a new sidewalk surrounding it on two sides, one of which juts out into the street several feet more than the adjacent sidewalk.

Even more odd is the location of a fire hydrant in the middle of the sidewalk.

Builder James Megna of Staten Island-based Megna Home Improvement said all plans were approved by the city, including the sidewalk's location, as installed by a concrete subcontractor.

Megna said the city was supposed to relocate the fire hydrant but refused to do so.

"Everything was done legitimately," he said. "That was the way they wanted it."

But a Department of Buildings spokesman said builders are responsible for the cost associated with relocation of fire hydrants, not the city.

The builder's pavement plan for this house wasn't immediately accessible to the DOB, the spokesman said, so the department can't say whether the builder has conformed with the law.


Perhaps this fellow compared notes with the St. Saviour's developer when concocting this plan

4 comments:

JQ LLC said...

Wouldn't it be hard to install a firehose with that hydrant buried halfway like that?

Screw the DOB's plausible deniability and not claiming partial responsibility, this shows contempt for a community.

Anonymous said...

Yup looks like a typical DOB approval.

Anonymous said...

Quote "Wouldn't it be hard to install a firehouse with that hydrant buried halfway like that"
YES because all the cap wrenches are 18 inches plus, you cant do full rotations to remove the cap fast in an emergency. (have to go 1/4 turn at a time)

That sidewalk don't belong that wide. The water infrastructure wasn't designed for it and would be a major $$$ can of worms to move. (you just cant add some elbows it causes to much resistance and would drop the pressure during a fire)
The building needs to be moved back to re-accommodate the PUBLIC sidewalk as seen on the rest of the street. I wonder how much payola was involved to allow such an abortion of laws and danger.
Engineering 101:
Houses not built sunken bedrock piles are not supposed to be built out that close of the primary water main. This because with no buffer a break can undermine a foundation in minutes making it to much of a danger to repair. Meaning the whole house can come down and X amount of blocks without water for a long tome.

Anonymous said...

In addition to DoB and DoT falling down on the job, the Board of Standards & Appeals strikes again! Please, please let Tony Avella win.