Long-haul drivers who park their trucks illegally in Marine Park and Mill Basin overnight won’t just find a ticket in the morning — now they’ll be lucky to find their trucks.
The 63rd Precinct towed four tractor-trailers and box trucks that were illegally parked in those neighborhoods last week as part a monthly a monthly enforcement program aimed at reducing a scourge that has plagued the area for years.
“These illegally parked trailers and large trucks cause traffic and pedestrian hazards,” said Dorothy Turano, the District Manager of Community Board 18. “We wholeheartedly support the 63rd and 69th police precinct efforts to remove them from the streets within our neighborhoods.”
Local civic groups had pledged $1,000 last year to buy the 63rd Precinct a wheel boot to punish illegally parked trucks in their neighborhoods, but the precinct decided that towing was more effective than booting.
“Having one boot, you can only do one truck — with the tow truck we can do four to eight tucks an evening,” said 63rd Precinct Community Affairs Officer Thomas Podd. “We told all the civics we appreciated what they wanted to do but use the money for something else.”
The civics had desperately wanted to give drivers the boot, saying that just getting a ticket is not enough of a deterrent, since the truck drivers were willing to pay an occasional fine because it was cheaper than paying for long-term parking.
But Podd said the precinct has teamed up with the NYPD traffic division to tow the vehicles in addition to issuing tickets for multiple violations, socking the truck drivers with sizable fines.
“They’re looking at easily $700,” said Podd.
Specifically, at least $705 — including a $370 fee for the tow, a $20-per-day storage fee, a $250 fine for illegally parking a tractor-trailer, and a $65 fine for parking a commercial vehicle in a residential neighborhood overnight.
Podd said two trucks were towed from Avenue V and Kimball Street in Marine Park and two trucks were towed from E. 66th Street and Barlow Drive South in Mill Island. Podd said the precinct plans to continue the towing illegally parked vehicles parked all around the district.
“The next time we might go to Flatlands and Bergen Beach,” he said. “We do different places so everyone is getting a fair shake of getting these vehicles off.”
