Two men were stunned when they were slapped with $50 tickets for "no stopping or standing" in a fire zone. They weren't in a car.
"It's so ridiculous that it's hilarious," said one of them who received the summons at Hudson River Park.
"I can't believe this actually happened," the software programmer said. "There's no reason I should get a ticket. ... We were walking to the subway."
About 10:30 p.m., they began walking north through the river-park, which is open until 1 a.m., toward the subway station, then one of them stopped walking and stood near a gated Port Authority vent in the park, where they talked for a few minutes.
Two signs on the gate read: "No stopping or standing - Fire Zone."
Suddenly, a Parks Department patrol car pulled up behind them. "What are you guys doing here?" one of the two officers asked, so they decided they should resume walking.
Then the Parks officer on the passenger side got out of the car and screamed, "Don't you dare walk away from us!"
They questioned why they were being stopped and the officer who yelled at them said, "I can arrest you."
The men handed over their IDs to the park cops, and both were given tickets for "failure to comply with signs," a $50 offense.
Parks Department spokesman told the Daily News the sign is aimed at keeping parkgoers away from "certain areas of parks that are service areas that we prefer the public not loiter at."
He insisted, "It doesn't refer to cars."
But the sign looks like it's meant to keep people from parking by the gate.
"It's totally a road sign, If it were for pedestrians, it would say, 'No loitering.'"
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