A parking meter in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn was so close to a fire hydrant that parking there meant risking a $115 ticket.
State law requires that cars park at least 15 feet from hydrants - leaving only 12 feet, 5 inches between the meter and the buffer zone. Only a tiny car such as the Mini Cooper, measuring just 11.9 feet, could fit in that space; a Ford Taurus would be about 4 feet too long.
The city removed the meter on Tuesday, following a front-page headline in the Daily News.
``We took the meter out,'' said Tom Cocola, a spokesman for the city Department of Transportation. ``We try to listen to the public.''
That was too late for George Akopoulos, 47, who co-owns a restaurant nearby. He said he got a ticket a month ago but paid it to avoid a hassle. Others, such as Bob Restaino, 64, have unsuccessfully fought their tickets.
``This is a disgrace. I put money in the meter, went to lunch and got a ticket. I was parked legally,'' Restaino told the Daily News.
Restaino, who is retired, called the newspaper in frustration after spending three hours in parking court Monday.
But Tuesday was a new day for him. He was autographing copies of his picture in the paper for neighborhood residents and fielding calls from the BBC, the British broadcasting network.
``I never actually in my wildest dreams figured it would go this far,'' he said.
Cocola said anyone who got a ticket at the meter should plead innocent and mail a copy of the Daily News story with the ticket. ``I think they'll be successful,'' he said.
He said he didn't know how the meter and the fire hydrant were installed so close together in the first place. ``It may have been a miscalculation,'' he said.
