They want this truck to make tracks.
The city must move a tractor-trailer illegally parked in front of a playground on Mill Avenue before someone crashes a car into it and gets hurt, locals are demanding. The 18-wheeler has been sitting on the residential street at the entrance of Mill Basin’s Lindower Park for about a month now, according to one neighbor who said it is a real hazard.
“If someone doesn’t keep their mind on the road, they could really run into it,” according to a tipster who asked his name be withheld. “And it’s just a danger to be there, right on Mill Avenue in front of the park right by the entrance to the playground — cars go by pretty quick. The door was open and you can release the brake and the truck will start rolling.”
Commercial vehicles may not park on residential streets for more than three hours and must remain locked, according to information from the Department of Transportation.
The hitch is, officials won’t move the truck. There is unrelated construction in the area, and police claim that’s enough of a reason for the random rig to remain, police said.
“The officers that responded — they said there’s a construction project over there,” said 63rd Precinct Officer Kortright, who declined to give his first name. “If they didn’t find anything wrong, I can’t force them to do anything.”
But the only visible construction site is a residential home directly across the street, and workers say they are not the ones using it. And officials in the Parks Department say they’re not doing any construction either.
Now locals are taking the problem into their own hands.
One phantom do-gooder festooned the truck in caution tape, and the tipster hanged two roadside reflectors from the jutting crane for nighttime motorists’ benefit.
“I attached them to the back of the truck, so at least people could see something is there,” he said.
