They’re giving it the old one-tow punch.
Officials are waging a towing campaign to rid a Coney Island Avenue auto body shop of illegally parked cars.
Jalopies line the sidewalks around Lenny’s Auto Service at Guider Avenue, creating a hazard for pedestrians and blocking traffic, locals say. But the business owner claims the cars aren’t his and says he’s thrilled tow jockies are hauling the heaps.
“When the cops come they say, ‘I’m towing this car, that car,’ and I say, ‘Tow it, it’s not mine,’ ” said the auto shop owner, who identified himself only as Robert and claimed independent salesmen were leaving the clunkers on the pedestrian-prone pathway to attract potential buyers. “Unfortunately, I get the heat for this, because the cars are getting parked on my sidewalk. So if you see cars parked illegally, no plates on it and it’s right next to my business, the cops come to me.”
But the tire-fixer’s excuse falls flat, because the city requires business owners take responsibility for their own sidewalks, a local pol said.
“Those cars are on his property, and its been an ongoing issue,” said Councilman Chaim Deutsch (D–Sheepshead Bay). “How can someone deny that it belongs to them when it’s on his property?”
The cars have been thorns in locals’ sides for years — Deutsch’s office has recently fielded dozens of calls from locals who say workers routinely leave cars on the sidewalk and make the hectic nexus of local streets and interstate ramps even worse, the pol said.
“That intersection is very busy and dangerous,” said Deutsch, who recently got the Department of Transportation to re-jigger lanes at the hazardous nexus of streets. “We want to make sure people can walk on the sidewalks properly.”
The city cut Guider Avenue to two lanes in each direction, so workers at Lenny’s must be more considerate, because double-parking cars on the Guider Avenue side of the body shop narrows the street to just one lane of traffic, a local said.
“If we’re going to have the situation with DOT, everybody has to work together, and Lenny’s has to work with us,” said Community Board 15 member Shari Kaplan. “They have to tell their customers they can’t park here, and they have to be considerate of the new traffic pattern. That’s the bottom line.”
Deutsch and 61st Precinct commanding officer Capt. Winston Faison recently hammered out a plan to make tow trucks a constant presence at the dent-fixer, Deutsch said.
Cops have been towing from in front of Lenny’s for about a year with little effect, but the recent push seems to be working, the auto shop’s owner said.
“More cars show up, more cars get towed,” he said. “It’s less now. The dealers realize their cars are getting towed.”
