2006 New York Code - Opening, Tampering With Or Operating Valves Or Fire Hydrants.

 
    § 24-308 Opening, tampering with or operating valves or fire hydrants.
  a.  It  shall  be  unlawful for any person other than an employee of the
  department of environmental protection, or the fire department to  open,
  use, operate, or tamper with a fire hydrant or high pressure hydrant, in
  the  city,  or a valve in the water supply system of the city, without a
  permit in writing from the commissioner of environmental protection.  It
  shall  also be unlawful to leave such a hydrant open for a longer period
  than shall be limited in the permit, or use  water  for  other  purposes
  than shall have been authorized by such commissioner.
    b.  The  commissioner  may  grant  a permit to a person, other than an
  employee of the department of environmental protection or  of  the  fire
  department,  to  open,  use  or operate a fire hydrant in the city, upon
  such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the  commissioner  and
  upon payment by such permittee of a fee of five dollars for each day for
  which such permit is granted. A permittee shall be required, at the time
  of  making  application  for such permit, to pay to the department a sum
  sufficient to cover the total fee for the entire period for  which  such
  permit  is  granted.  If  the  work  for which such permit is granted is
  completed on a date prior to the termination date of  such  permit,  the
  permittee  shall  be  entitled  to a refund of the fee paid for each day
  subsequent to such completion date. The commissioner may grant a  permit
  pursuant  to  this section to any agency or to a non-profit organization
  for the purpose  of  providing  street  showers  for  children,  without
  payment of the fee required by this subdivision.
    c.  The  commissioner shall have the power, subject to the approval of
  the board of estimate, to increase the amount of the fee  prescribed  by
  subdivision  b  hereof, to an amount sufficient to cover the cost to the
  city of the supervision and inspection of hydrants  in  connection  with
  the granting of permits under the provisions of this section.
    d.  Every  permittee  shall  open,  use  or  operate  such  hydrant in
  accordance with such rules and regulations and such terms and conditions
  as may be prescribed by the commissioner for the purpose  of  protecting
  and  maintaining  the  hydrant  in  a continuously accessible and usable
  condition. A permit granted pursuant to this section may be  revoked  by
  the  commissioner for the failure by the permittee to comply with any of
  the terms and conditions of the permit or any  applicable  provision  of
  law.
    e.  The  opening,  use  or operation of a fire hydrant, under a permit
  issued pursuant to this section, shall be subject to  inspection  by  an
  employee  or  employees  of  the department of environmental protection,
  duly appointed in accordance with the provisions of  the  civil  service
  law,  and  assigned  to such duties in accordance with the provisions of
  section eleven hundred three of the charter.  The  compensation  of  any
  such  employee or employees shall be paid by the city in accordance with
  the provisions of section one hundred twenty-three of  the  charter.  No
  permittee  shall be required to pay the compensation of any employee, or
  any part thereof, as a condition to the granting of  a  permit  for  the
  opening, use or operation of a fire hydrant.