Tuesday, July 5, 2016

When city streets become auto shops

From the Times Ledger:

'For the residents on 53rd Avenue between 103rd and 108th streets in Corona, the past decade has been a nightmare.

Unlicensed mechanics have taken over the area by parking anywhere from 15 to 23 cars along the five-block stretch, forcing the tax-paying residents to look elsewhere to find a spot to park their vehicles.

From 8 a.m. to sometimes as late as 1 a.m. the following morning three mechanics are fixing cars, playing loud music while drinking and hitting on the young women in the area.

For Jose Rosado, Burrough’s next-door neighbor, his problems are financial because of the mess the mechanics leave behind.

He said he sees “license plates from Texas, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina and Illinois” all the time and when the mechanics finish working “they leave soda and beer cans...and used antifreeze bottles by the stairs” of his brownstone apartment. I receive tickets for $100 to $200 [from Environmental Control via the Sanitation Department], with the most expensive being $300 sometimes,” adds Rosado.

He said 311 does nothing to stop the practice.

“They don’t care about the $25 to $35 tickets [from the police] — they are making $3,000 to $5,000” per car, Burroughs said.

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is zero quality of life enforcement from NYC government!!! We have chronic noise complaints that go unpunished because the NYPD isn't allowed to issue summons. Politicians want the low class, low income voters!!!

JQ LLC said...

311 under Mayor Big Slow has become a black hole for complaints to go the vanish completely

You will not see this environment in Forest Hills, Greenpoint, LIC, or even in Bed-stuy anymore. Shit, probably not even in Sunset Park where there is room for this obnoxious behaviour.

But in middle class, poor and immigrant towns like Corona, where it is not deemed hot or cool yet, degradation is allowed and tolerated by the city and law enforcement. And these types that run and work in these chop shops are the dregs of society. The only other place with this amount of impunity displayed is by the construction sites by atlantic yards.

Anonymous said...

That neighborhood lacks attention from police and politicians. It's been this way for years.

Anonymous said...

Corona, along with College Point, one of the shit holes of Queens. What can you expect?
Oops, I forgot to mention Flushing down the toilet!

Anonymous said...

Is there an AutoZone store nearby?

Res Ipsa said...

The reason that this is so out of control is that police failed to enforce the laws when it was a smaller issue involving fewer cars. I used to live in Jackson Heights, and people would park cars without license plates ALL THE TIME. Reporting to 311 and the council did nothing to get them removed. Others in the neighborhood got involved in calling and there were hundreds of complaints to 311 on record about this issue. Nothing was ever done. And now we see the next level, where people are running illegal mechanic shops and the neighbors have to pay for it. Why can't the laws ever be enforced in this City?

Anonymous said...

He said 311 does nothing to stop the practice.

“They don’t care about the $25 to $35 tickets [from the police] — they are making $3,000 to $5,000” per car, Burroughs said.


These are the conditions that breed organized crime. DOT's gotta put an end to this routine abuse.

Anonymous said...

This is SO frustrating! In our area there is a half-block stretch with roughly 10 auto-bays serving roughly 15 repair businesses. They do most of their work, and car storage, on the street. This is stealing public space for private gain! Same thing with street storage of commercial vehicles: that's OUR street - we do not pay for upkeep for some company's benefit. In all these cases, enforcement is non-existent.

Anonymous said...

Corona is so ignored by authorities that its not even funny. I have seen pick up trucks with plates from Texas, North Carolina and Arizona parked throughout the community. They come and leave as they please bringing with them god knows what into the community (drugs, illegal immigrants, prostitutes). Everyone knows that the drivers aren't from here and are up to no good but the NYPD (115th) and our ineffective elected leaders turn the other cheek. NYC is dying !!

(sarc) said...

As much as the people refuse to see and admit it, this is caused by the excessive costs and regulations on the legitimate repair shops.

Insurance, rent, utilities, environmental permits, fees and fines, waste management costs, etc...

This is similar to the death of Freddy Gray, who was not killed by the police, but the over zealous enforcement of an extremely exorbitant tobacco tax.

People and politicians are always reluctant to look for the root case, because when finally getting to the original cause of things, it always reverts back to the excesses and stupidity of government.

The powers that be always claim to have the best solution, especially when they are the ones that created the problem...

Joe Moretti said...

Dig deeper and you will see corruption and graft from politicians to NYPD and city agencies. Corona is not the only place where this takes place, though this seems to be one of the worse. Jamaica has the same issue.

I have been reporting on this for years, it just took the local media to get on board.

Anonymous said...

Deblasio does not care.
Shutdown the shops, tow the cars and deport the fake mechanics.

Anonymous said...

"He said he sees “license plates from Texas, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina and Illinois” all the time"

Probably Queens Residents dodging insurance rates

Anonymous said...

"There is zero quality of life enforcement from NYC government!!! "

And certain government officials want to enforce these laws even LESS because somehow its racist to enforce QoL standards.

Anonymous said...

Sarc, I think you mean Eric Garner. In any event, Garner was selling bootleg cigs illegallyright outside of a supermarket that sold cigarettes by the books.

1) Using another business man's storefront property to vend without his permission, taking advantage of the foot traffic.
2) Selling an illegal product.
1 & 2) Selling a competing product right without permission right on his doorstep, which he evidently had a history of doing.
THAT'S why the cops gave him a hard time. It's sad that he died, but he was an unrepentant scofflaw.

Land in NYC is too expensive for the repair shops if they can get away with parking on the street, huh? Well, that's THEIR problem, not the rest of the neighborhood's to deal with.

Caring about Queens Community said...

Wow this sounds like my neighborhood in Glendale. No one has come up with a strong enough plan to prevent these low life losers from doing what ever they want. They use the public streets ad sidewalks like their own private land.Between section 8 and people renting out 1 family homes like four family homes, illegal mechanics and horrible car dealerships. I feel like I live in hell. DOT, DOB and quality of life issues department are so nice, kind,loving,compassionate to all the wrong bad people, who are destroying NYC. These hood rat, fake poor people( they all have new cars and designer clothes) must be forced out of working class neighborhoods and must learn English.

Anonymous said...

It is not only mechanics' shops, legal or otherwise, who help themselves to sidewalk or alley space illegally. Car dealers also seem to feel that the publicly funded sidewalk in front of their business is THEIRS, to use as an extension of their showroom. Queens Ford, on Queens Blvd., is one such super abuser. Not only do they park many of their cars for sale on the sidewalk in front of their building, but they also double park all along the block AND in the concrete median dividing Queens Blvd, all without a single ticket seen on a windshield. It is patently obvious that they are paying off the area cops. I called the local precinct and no one showed up, even after more than an hour. But if YOU, the average car owner, even double parked on your quiet side street for less than 5 minutes, waiting for your kindergartner to come out so you can drive him to school, YOU will be promptly slapped with a $120 ticket. I know, because it happened to my neighbor. New York __itty is more like it.

Anonymous said...

We need a mayor who cares. Next you will see strangers piss and shit on your sidewalk.

Anonymous said...

This is similar to the death of Freddy Gray, who was not killed by the police, but the over zealous enforcement of an extremely exorbitant tobacco tax.

You're thinking of the death of Eric Garner, not Freddie Gray.

Anonymous said...

So they actually pay the parking tickets???

Anonymous said...

Out of state plates-- by my observation you would think half the State of Pennsylvania is daily driving around eastern Queens. Don't Insurance Companies have an interest in this fraud? Isn't it cash money for them to catch the fraudsters? I would think they could employ a small army of local private dicks to get the evidence they need, and still make money.

Anonymous said...

Meanwhile, the genuises at City Hall still want to relocate all the autoshops from Willets Point so they can park on even more local streets.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous (sarc) said...
As much as the people refuse to see and admit it, this is caused by the excessive costs and regulations on the legitimate repair shops.

TO ANONYMOUS I JUST HAVE ONE QUESTION, WHERE IS YOUR AUTO REPAIR SHOP LOCATED??

Anonymous said...

And, I thought Emperor Bloomberg was a thoughtless, uncaring, elitist, carpetbagging, Manhattan-centric autocrat----he pales in comparison to the worthless shithead who occupies City Hall right now (who should have been impeached in 2014)!

Under the extreme incompetence and arrogance of the de Blasio Administration, New York City makes hell look like heaven!

As for the Anonymous writer who said that Eric Garner was an "...unrepentant scofflaw," how sad but true. Garner's 'rap sheet' was longer than a giraffe's neck, and what's worse is how the illegal 'loosies' that he sold were not subject to tax--so unlike the store owner, who suffered years of business loss from Garner's illegal activity--ironically, the same illegal activity to whom everyone else in the Garner household truly benefitted (where one conservative estimate in the Daily News stated that Garner pulled in more than $600 a week, tax free)!

Now, why he didn't seek a legitimate job and pay his taxes like everyone else, well, only Garner himself knows the answer to that. But, no one mentions how all of this could have been avoided by Eric Garner himself--a grown man who was wholly aware that what he was doing was illegal, and the predictable drill that always followed, on cue, each time he was nabbed by police, and swung through the revolving doors of a broken criminal justice system that tolerated the flagrant abuse for so many years in the first place!

And, during the late 1960s and early 70s, former Mayor Abe Beame declared New York to be 'Fun City.' I'm glad that Beame is long gone to 'Old Glory'---because today's 'unfun' New York would kill him all over again!

(sarc) said...

To the various annons mentioning my post;

I support legitimate and reputable businesses for all of my dealings!

I do not condone this behavior, HOWEVER I am trying to make the point that our government is creating these "entrepreneurs" filling a market driven demand.

I have acquaintances that know "a guy" who works much cheaper for all kinds of services.

I want a warranty and an insured individual that i have recourse with, others do not.

When I discuss pricing with people I do business with, they always bring up the ever growing and burdensome costs.
exempli gratia: insurance of all sorts, COMMERCIAL property taxes, rent, utilities, meeting payroll, and of course health insurance that was supposed to be reduced with the passage of "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" according to our current President.

As my father told me time and time again, "you get waht you pay for"...

Anonymous said...

Hey, the way to get these derelict cars immediately removed by the DoT is to paint some bike lanes underneath them, and then call the DoT and the bike activists. Believe they will be gone in no time, and the body shop owners will be given hefty tines.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous #3- set your sorry ass on the streets of da Pernt and we'll send it back to your POS nabe in a sling...

Anonymous said...

If they get rid of all tge chop shops in willets point we will see more of this. Maybe when it makes its way to Katz's block they might actually crack down on this behavior.

kapimap said...

Thy aint making $3 -5 k per car, no way.
These guys are shady tree mechanics earning a living.
I would trust my car to them, never on the street.
Most likely displaced mechanics from the junkyard,alcoholics that cant hold a job, or illegal trying to feed his family.

To the neighbors, either call 911 abouta a fake felony occuring or put out a trash can and tell them to use it!

Call you goverment elected officials every week until its resolved!

Anonymous said...

They must be learning all their tricks from the Italian shops near northern Blvd and utopia.

Anonymous said...

Not enough cops.......

Anonymous said...

So long as thy play bolero music

Anonymous said...

This is for anyone that needs to know that there is a NYC ordinance code 16-122 that prohibits anyone from working on cars in the street …..good luck trying to get any enforcement from any NYC agencies