They need to bring in the big guns.
The city must step in and help police precincts tow illegally parked cars and trucks, local pols and residents are demanding. Shady salesmen have been lining Marine Park’s streets with for-sale cars, and scofflaw truckers have been leaving big rigs parked all over the ’hood — taking away parking and making driving more hazardous for locals. But the 63rd Precinct doesn’t have the horsepower to tow all the verboten vehicles two hours to the city’s pound at the Navy Yard, the precinct’s commanding officer said.
“This is a tremendous problem for this precinct,” said Capt. Thomas Burke. “Each car takes us about two hours to do. I’d love to have a team designated to just towing derelict vehicles. I know it’s a frustrating issue, we’re working on it.”
Councilman Alan Maisel (D–Marine Park) penned a letter to Mayor DeBlasio requesting the city send in more heavy-duty haulers to combat large vehicles such as semis, because the local precinct cannot handle the issue on its own.
“We need more activity, the local precincts don’t have the ability to deal with this problem by themselves,” Maisel said.
Drivers may not park commercial vehicle on residential streets overnight, and private vehicles may not sit in the same spot for more than seven days, according to local laws.
The clunkers take up parking in the car-heavy nabe, but abandoned tractor-trailers — such as the one that vexed Mill Avenue residents in April — pose a more grave problem, because they block motorists’ fields of view, Maisel said.
“The greater concern is of course the dangers these vehicles present when they obscure the visibility at intersections, forcing vehicles and pedestrians to veer into the intersections blindly,” he said.
The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
