Community News
DANGEROUS PARKING
IN WESTERN QUEENS
Councilman calls on Queens’ 108th Precinct
to crack down ‘rampant’ illegal parking
BY MARK HALLUM
With bicyclist casualties due to
vehicle collisions accumulat-ing
to an alarming number
this year, Councilman Jim-my
Van Bramer has turned
criticism toward the 108th
Precinct claiming they have been letting dangerous
parking practices slide.
Alleging that NYPD’s lackadaisical
attitude toward enforcing placard
abuse policies as well as parking
practices that block sidewalks and
bike lanes have conveyed that the
“law does not apply,” Van Bramer
called for a crackdown.
In letter to NYPD Commissioner
James O’Neill, Van Bramer listed
off 11 locations within the com-mand
where he claims residents are
forced to walk in the street with their
children because of vehicles parked
on sidewalks.
“The 108th Precinct has become
the epicenter of rampant illegally
parked cars on the sidewalk and
in the street, in addition to placard
abuse. The precinct is overrun with
illegally parked cars whose owners have no concern
or respect for the law or resident of the community,”
Van Bramer wrote. “Fifteen cyclists have died this year.
Illegal parking makes our streets unsafe for everyone.”
The number of cyclists killed across the city has
reached 15 this year.
Laura Shepard, a Queens organizer for Trans-portation
Alternatives, said the 108th Precinct
24 JULY 2019 I LIC COURIER I www.qns.com
rarely takes action on reports of illegal parking
in the command and that there is an active ef-fort
by bike advocates to document the issue on
Twitter whenever it takes place. They also make
311 complaints.
“I’m glad to see Council member Van Bramer take
a stand. Drivers jeopardize the safety of pedestrians
and cyclists when they block sidewalks and bike
lanes,” Shepard said. “The problem is constantly
documented and reported, but the 108th Precinct
Transportation Alternatives at the July 10 die-in in Washington Square Park.
is one of the worst offenders and rarely takes the
reports seriously. We need a serious effort to put
an end to this dangerous behavior.”
Van Bramer indicated 10-20 44th Rd. as a location
where Ryder trucks are regularly parked on sidewalks
and 30-30 Hunters Point Ave. as another location
where Adirondack Direct employees use the walkway
for vehicle storage.
UPS employees are also known to park their per-sonal
vehicles on the sidewalks around 49th Avenue
and 27th Street, according to Van Bramer.
In recent months Mayor Bill de Blasio has charged
Chief of Transportation Thomas Chan with the task
of enforcing placard abuse and enlisted a small fleet
of tow trucks to remove parked cars in bus lanes as
park of citywide effort to decrease commute times.
And in February, Councilman Robert Holden and
Speaker Corey Johnson introduced a legislative pack-age
that would take city employees
to task for using parking placards
to block bike lanes and park on
sidewalks. Holden said there was
also an issue of counterfeit plac-ards
being used for this purpose
and could be putting public safety
at risk.
The five bills within the pack-age
are currently laid over in com-mittee,
according to City Hall’s
website.
On Wednesday, those advo-cating
for street overhauls that
place pedestrian and bicyclist
safety as a priority staged a die-in
in Washington Square Park
where about a hundred people,
including Van Bramer, played pos-sum
in a display of unity.
“It is heartbreaking that New Yorkers feel so unsafe
walking and biking right now that pedestrians, cyclists
and advocates feel they must stage a die-in in order
for something to change. We must not stop fighting
until our streets are safe for all. I hope you’ll fight with
me,” Johnson said. “We need to break the car culture
that is choking our streets and literally killing people.”
Transportation Alternatives/Twitter
/www.qns.com
/www.qns.com
