Gothamist: Car Fatally Hits Child Playing with Fire Hydrant

IvoryJive

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:20:47 -0500

Interesting comments. My take is that our streets are too dangerous and children don't have enough safe places to play near their homes. I vote they permanently close the street to vehicle traffic and make it the Mimah Bangoura Memorial Play Street.

The Edge

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:07:25 -0500

I would think that anyone who actually grew up in NYC would have, at some point in their young lives, played with open hydrants. Just sayin'.

Jen S

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:54:35 -0500

#9, I'm whiter than white, and as a kid I used to play in hydrants in South Philly. Calm down with your generalizations, please.

JacqueMehoff

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:48:15 -0500

you just can't win. playing in the streets in the 30's 40's 50's 60's 70's etc. I'm sure you got that mass e-mailing which starts "How did we survive...."

Albert Sharpton

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:20:17 -0500

If the livery cab had a sprinkler cap on board, this would of been prevented. I'm going to protest if the driver is white. It's the right thing to do.

Snoopy

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:09:24 -0500

If the hydrant had a sprinkler cap it is totally legal to open it. Sprinkler caps are available at the local precinct. A six year old in the street, unsupervised is not a good idea.

Polemicist

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:48:01 -0500

Opening fire hydrants is dangerous and irresponsible, and is tolerated only because it is common amongst a particular ethnic group. Not only is it dangerous to the children, it makes it impossible to fight a fire in fairly significant, but variable, radius around the opened fire hydrant. Fire hydrants are not toys. The reality is the person who opened the fire hydrant should be charged with manslaughter.

JenChungsBra

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:43:37 -0500

It doesn't say if the hydrant was opened legally (with a spray cap) or illegally. Either way, if you can't see where you're driving then you shouldn't proceed (if that was the case, who knows).

Chosun

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:42:35 -0500

At least the livery driver had the decency to take the kid to the hospital. It's a shame, but it's never a good idea to let your kids play in the streets. I mean, I understand the father's call for people to drive safely, but he should've also said to keep your kids out of the streets.

cuntry

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:27:49 -0500

shutup jesq go back to ohio, opening hydrants is an amazing past time, kids play in the street here no matter what and the water from a hydrant is a warning if anything. you have a lot of nerve, you disgust me. have fun watching annoying star wars, loser. god bless my little hydrant child.

Jesq

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:11:55 -0500

One more reason that the city should crack down on the bastards that open the fire hydrants

bklynd

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:05:17 -0500

It's probably supposed to instill a sense of scholarship in the kids. Like uniforms.

JMH

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:00:04 -0500

I know this is a tremendously callous thing of me to say, and I recognize that this is a tragedy, but: Do they really give kids caps and gowns at their kindergarten graduations these days? It seems excessive, doesn't it?

edEx

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:42:06 -0500

It doesn't say inside the fire hydrant, it says she was playing in an open fire hydrant. Meaning (which is pretty clear), she was playing in the water near the fire hydrant.

Gothamist_Cynic

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:31:20 -0500

The kid was inside the fire hydrant? Wouldn't it be next to or across the street from the fire hydrant?