By DAVID GREENE
This week we asked readers their thoughts on the long-standing practice of using fire hydrants to cool off in the summertime.
Obviously when the cap is not on the fire hydrant and it’s turned on and not even at full capacity, it’s dangerous. In the summertime, kids are going to want to cool themselves off, and going toward a hydrant that doesn’t have a cap, the pressure of the pump can push them into oncoming traffic or push them out further in the street than they’d like to be. If the cap is on, it’s a pretty good thing because even if you don’t participate, the sprinkler cools off the block.–Erroll Henry, Jr.
I think that opening the fire hydrants without a cap is wrong because we could have a water shortage. We need water and wasting water like that is foolish. I understand that people can go to the local firehouse and request a sprinkler cap that turns the pump into a sprinkler system. It saves water, it’s safer, and it shouldn’t cause any flooding.—Anthony Boyd
I just think it’s one of those New York experiences. When you think of New York in the summertime, you think of the fire hydrants and the water coming out, but they should have something to make sure the children are safe. Generation after generation, everybody does it.–Brian O’Hare
I believe that the fire hydrants used to keep the neighborhood cool is a very good thing for the neighborhood so long as there’s somebody responsible to monitor and supervise the fire hydrant and the kids’ activities. But unattended, it can cause a danger. Personally, I was involved in an accident due to an open fire hydrant running consistently under the Grand Concourse overpass. I hit the wall and a lot of people got hurt in the car because it [the hydrant] was unattended.–Roberto Jackson
I think that people should get up extra early and go to Orchard Beach if they want to go swimming.–Anthony Rivieccio
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.
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In regards to the Inquiring Photographer reader comments “Should Pumps Stay Open”, the pump opposite the Msgr Boyle Elementary School/Synagogue on Hull Ave (Mosholu Pkwy N)at times has been left open constantly for days on end. Even though now there is a sprinkler cap on (prior to it was taken off and water was running full force), this is a horrific waste of water. I am not able to shut it off myself, but anyone I have spoken to about this, does not seem as bothered about it as I am. It saddens me that my “neighbors” seem oblivious to this. I have called 311 on 2 separate occasions to report the open hydrant (full force). I am sure that if there were more people aware of this, they would feel the same way as I do.
Thank you
Hi, this is David Cruz at the Norwood News. Is that pump still open at full blast?
It’s very unsafe to have these hydrants open at full capacity. Kids get hurt, residents in the near open hydrants lose water pressure, among other things. I understand that this is a New York way but things have to change. People need to take their kids to parks with sprinklers or even go to the beach (like previously mentioned). All hydrants need to be shut off and stay off.