The point of the fire zone is to give fire vehicles clearance . . . not create extra parking for private vehicles of firefighters. There are space on the north side of the street set aside for that. These vehicles, all parked with Uniformed firefighters' Association placards, are creating a serious hazard for bicyclists and motor vehicles by blocking the line of sight of traffic emerging from the Hertz garage. Fuller explanation here:

http://nyc.mybikelane.com/post/index/2182