Pro tip: Those fat red fire plugs are fakes. Sort of.
In contrast to the regular, working hydrants relied on by the Fire Department, the 924 squat red ones you see around the city were decommissioned in 2005. Which means…drumroll, please…you can park next to them. Sort of. A report from Philly.com says the Philadelphia Parking Authority trains its officers to not issue tickets to people who park at these hydrants. But the Police Department doesn’t do that training. So while it’s not illegal to park there and you’d win a ticket battle, there’s still a small chance you’ll get an envelope under your wiper.
The city has no immediate plans to spend the $5 million it would cost to remove all the old plus, so check out this list of what’s been decommissioned. Just keep in mind that new hydrants are often installed near the old ones. It’s still very much illegal to park in front of those.
Best of Savesies
Though you’ve probably never been fined for your cone or had anyone but a pissed off neighbor remove the lawn chair from your empty spot, saving a parking spot is actually illegal in Philly. But so is parking on the Broad Street median, of course, and that’s never stopped all of South Philadelphia. So if you’re going to be a jerk, at least be creative like the folks below. This is the good (?), the bad and the ugly of spot-saving. If you thought this was just a winter thing, you must be new here.
The human cone
That TV you replaced and can’t give away
A potted plant you probably should have taken inside
Pretty much everything you could drag over
An ironing board, because parking spot > fresh clothes
A toilet and…a bench press
Some blunt written harassment
Repurposed city signs
