Queens is burning again: RV goes on fire by the Goodfellas Diner in Maspeth

During my fundraiser in #Maspeth, a huge fire broke out across the street. The fire started from folks living in an RV, trying to generate electricity. We cannot have streets filled with RV’s that people live in full time. The fire spread to the location of GoodFellas Diner,… pic.twitter.com/UrpJHrlDJQ

— Curtis Sliwa (@CurtisSliwa) May 11, 2025

Back in March I only saw about 8 RVs, none were by the Goodfellas Diner. Looks like a bunch more trailers moved in when the weather got warmer. Can the City of Yes fix this?

NY Post

A fireball from a parked RV sparked a fire that tore through an iconic Queens diner from the movie “Goodfellas” – and now one mayoral candidate is calling for a camper crackdown. The fire erupted at 9:30 p.m. Saturday at GoodFellas Diner in Maspeth with 60 firefighters eventually arriving to put out the flames, according to the FDNY.

“We were talking about all the RVs and debris in the garbage and the problems that come with this epidemic of RVs on the streets of the outer boroughs, and that’s when boom!,” Sliwa said. “We all came running out of the Clinton Hall, and we saw the truck exploded on fire and watched as the fire spread to the Goodfellas diner.”

The fire has reignited debate over illegal RVs in the outer boroughs neighborhoods like Maspeth, Red Hook, and Hunts Point, which have seen streets taken over by dilapidated campers, local outlets have reported. Sliwa blamed City Hall for the latest. “There’s no police response, no DOT response, nothing like this right here, you got campers parked on the lot of the Goodfellas Diner?! The Buildings Department should be out here asking what the hell is going on, but nothing,” he said.

Caption our newest neighbor

Reimagining the curb for people displaced by rising median rents

 

NY Post

Their housing situation is a stretch.

Homeless people are beating pricey rents in Queens’ hottest neighborhood by living out of their cars and RVs — including two men living the high life out of a beat-up limousine.

In the shadow of luxury high-rise apartments, at least four vehicles are being used as homes along an isolated five-block stretch of Queens Plaza South in Long Island City, The Post found this week.

Among them was a grey Lincoln Town Car Royale with busted-in tinted windows, paint stripped off its roof, many dents, and no license plates.

Inside the limo, skull masks sit atop tarps and sheets, while outside its broken windows are decorated with sheets of duct tape, cardboard, and a blue blanket sporting an eagle and flowers.

For roughly a year, two men have made the limo their home and are regularly spotted sweeping along the area, under the Queensboro Bridge — as if it was their front porch, according to homebound neighbors.

The duo has also been hooking into the city’s power grid for electricity by tapping into a nearby lamppost, residents claim.

“The guys in the limo [are] homeless and you feel terrible,” said one 48-year-old man who works in the neighborhood. “But at the same time, [the limo] is taking up three spots. There’s got to be a better way for [them] to be taken care of.”

 

Oakland Trailer Park

 

 

 

 

There is now a RV Camp in Bayside right next to Oakland Lake on the Cloverdale Blvd bike path !

Thanks JQ for all the work you do running Queens Crap.

 

Southside Queens Trailer Hideaway

Crappy word on the street...

 If you drive on 134 street before south conduit by the Nassau express overpass or the Nassau expressway service roads you might notice these RVs tractor trailers. Box trucks and other commercial vehicles using this strip as a rest stop.

 

 

Problem is the trucks and RVs do not ever move they just sit here. Who is enforcing the law in this location?

 It’s absolutely ridiculous how they are getting away with this. But does this fall under the NYPD or port authority jurisdiction? Nobody seems to know. Maybe queens crap can help.

JQ: Maybe Rockaway Hideaway is expanding?

It's not far, not far for the D.O.B. and the D.O.H. to reach...

 

Well here we go again, the gentrification of Rockaway Beach continues with the resurgence of illegal hostels for fun and profit.

 For  $600 and $700 a night, you get to slumber in a cozy setup no different than how the homeless sleep in congregate shelters.

 

 

Complete with combination skate park and pool on the roof.

 

 

Here's another re-purposed house turned hostel's idea of a pool, but it really looks more like a sink.

  

 

For the thriftier hipsters out there (if there is such a thing) who don't have that much disposable income to splurge, they can spend a weekend in one of Rockaway Hideaway's "cozy" trailers. Complete with ample patio space and a combination dining room/stand up shower

 

 

 

 

 

 The hosts of these campers take in 4 guests, which must be a thrill for them to decide who gets to sleep on the mattress or the seats in the dining nook.

 

 

  

But at least this one has an open air shower and commode, with natural light and free soap!

 

 

 

 

Funny how they are able to get away with these set ups, not only for all the building and housing codes they are violating but also the health risks they are causing by clustering transients and tourists from other states or nations, since the pandemic isn't over as positive cases rise again from the spread of the vaccine resistant Delta Variant (ask the New York Yankees). But as of this writing, it looks like some concerned neighbors dropped a dime on them and all "hideaways" have cancelled future reservations.

 I wonder why...

 

 

 

 

Keep on obstructin' again; Runway Towing returns and dumps damaged trailers on Conduit Blvd.

 Runway towing at in again in south ozone park. Back in January channel 2 news did a story on this problem about this towing company storing there damaged trailer on south conduit from 124th street to 126th streets.

  




































 About 5 months went by before this tow company started there nonsense again. DOT even put up no standing anytime signs and two new fire hydrants were put at 125th street and yet they still continue to conduct illegal parking problems here.
 

  




































 They also still have no regard for people’s safety putting these trailers on the corner of this busy intersection. you can not see oncoming traffic on south conduit ave.

 The local police pct which is the 106 will not say anything to them because they help them out with tow operations.

  




































So this is a ongoing fight that will never end until unfortunately a bad accident happens. 

So sad.

 

Glendale RV extravaganza, part 2

Back in late June, the above video was produced by Reena Roy of CBS 2 news and featured here a couple of days later.

We have an update:

"While riding to work on Friday morning, I passed by that road where
that trailer and rental truck were parked by that guy who claimed he
was running some film and art school bullshit while riding over the
bridge over the rail line. Well you will never guess what it looks
like there now although you will not at all be surprised because this
city doesn't enforce any laws anymore. There are at least 2 or 3 new
trailers there and another box truck by the parking lot there. And
another trailer is even brazenly parked in front of Bob's Furniture
warehouse. 

I don't have any pics because traffic was flowing at the time, but I
will make a better effort next time. I have to be cautious because one
of those trailers has a security cam and I don't want to be hounded by
these creeps.

I don't know if any of the Queens weeklies did an update report, but
I suggest that you or any of your allies or acquaintances go there and
check it out yourselves. Really, it's become an actual trailer park.
It's obvious people are living full time there." - JQ LLC

Great job, NYPD!

Police promise an intervention

From the Forum:

The commanding officer of the 106th Precinct this week told The Forum that his officers will soon meet with the owners/operators of the tractor trailers that seem to clog up both North and South Conduit avenues in South Ozone Park.

“We are aware of the situation and have visited the location,” Capt. Brian Bohannon said on Tuesday. “The trailers are moved frequently. We will sit down with management to discuss these issues.”

Residents have raised concerns about the problem in the past, noting the danger posed by the presence of detached trailers at busy intersections along both thoroughfares.

Forest Hills streets become truck parking lots

From CBS 2:

Forest Hills, Queens residents say their streets have become an illegal rest stop.

As CBS2’s Lisa Rozner reported, the neighbors said tractor trainers form all over the country are parking and staying put for days, and they say no one is helping the problem.

Tractor trailers measuring 53 feet long stick out like a sore thumb on the Grand Central Parkway Service Road near 64th Road, filling up blocks. The city Department of Transportation said it is illegal for them to be there.

Residents said in the last year, the problem has gotten out of control.

“A parking lot — like a truck parking lot,” said Raj Patel of Forest Hills. “At night after 9 o’clock, it’s very hard parking. You can’t find the parking. You’ve got too many trucks here parking on the service road
“Because of this car, there’s lots of traffic over here, OK?” “They have to put sign, OK? ‘No parking,’” said Rafik Yusopov of Forest Hills.

“And they’re an eyesore,” said Laura Shepard.

The DOT said 53-foot trailers are only allowed on the nearby Van Wyck and Long Island expressways.

An all-too-familiar problem

Hi QC,

I recently attended the Community Council meeting at the 105th precinct. I expressed my concerns about an illegal businesses being run out of a residential home on 107-16 Springfield Blvd in Queens Village. These individuals are fixing cars at all hours of the day right on Springfield blvd. In the process, they are dumping oil all over the street and sidewalks, and discarding oil down the sewer drains which eventually drains into Jamaica Bay. They have a tractor trailer parked in the driveway, and a full blown junkyard in the backyard! A couple residents at the meeting expressed concerns about this place as well, since it's bringing down the quality of life in our neighborhood and devaluing our homes. The community affairs officer told me that they'll be paying them a visit, and she'll contact the DEP. I also contacted the NYS DEC Police twice and they were very helpful. I also filed 311 complaints with the DSNY and DOB, for the messy conditions, illegal parking of the tractor trailer, and of course the junkyard in the back. I just want to show your readers some of the ghetto nonsense that we deal with in SE Qns on a daily basis. Thanks.

- Philster

Great moments in overdevelopment history

From DNA Info:

More than half of the city’s 1.1 million public school students attend overcrowded schools, according to a new report from the watchdog group Class Size Matters.

Despite the Department of Education’s addition of more seats and new buildings, many families feel the situation is getting worse as existing seats are being chipped away due to lost leases, schools being co-located together, or the elimination of annexes, mini-buildings and trailers housing temporary classrooms, according to the report released Thursday.

As trailers housing temporary classrooms — with nearly 8,000 seats — are expected to be phased out entirely, it may further strain school buildings, the report warns.

Roughly 575,000 students attended schools in 2015-2016 that were at or above 100 percent capacity, the report said, citing Department of Education enrollment data.

From the Queens Chronicle:

School Construction Authority officials on Monday said they have the money ready to alleviate overcrowding in overutilized school districts, such as SD 24 in southwest and western Queens, but a lack of available space remains their main obstacle.

“The hardest job of the SCA is to try and find real estate,” Michael Mirisola, director of External Affairs at the SCA, told members of the Borough Board during the annual update of the agency’s five-year capital plan. “We have brokers in every borough, in every district. We are constantly doing tests to see if a site will hold a school. We go through that exercise many times during the week and some of them just don’t pass muster.”

School District 24 has consistently been one of the most overcrowded in the city — as of February of this year, its average school utilization rate was 115 percent.
Mirisola said the SCA is always open to tips on available space to fit a school, yet many suggested sites are ultimately deemed unfit for an educational facility.

“Generally, the No. 1 reason is size,” he said. “If it’s a funded need and we don’t have a project, it’s because we’re looking for a location.”

Lots suitable for a new school site must be 20,000 square feet, the SCA official said, in addition to “other specifications and other requirements.”

School trailers will stay for now

From the Queens Chronicle:

The School Construction Authority has no immediate plans to remove 70 of the trailers being used as portable classrooms on school grounds across the borough, agency officials told Borough Board members Monday.

“We go at them as we can find solutions,” said Michael Mirisola, director of external affairs at the SCA.

The agency went over its amended 2015-19 capital plan with board members, detailing the plans to build and renovate schools in Queens district by district, but it was the part about the trailers — known as transportable classroom units — that most interested the community board chairpersons and a few City Council members who showed up to the meeting.

The capital plan, as it stands, has $450 million allocated for the removal of the units, but before they can be taken away, a plan must be developed to seat the children in them back in their school or an addition built onto it.

Right now, there are 17 Queens schools with such a plan, though some details still need to be hammered out.

Parents happy their kids are going to school in trailers

DNA Info/Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska

From DNA Info:

As the Department of Education tries to remove classroom trailers from school yards, P.S. 144 in Forest Hills has just received a new one.

But the trailer, which was fought for by local parents and elected officials, is a welcome addition to the school to help with overcrowding while keeping kids in their neighborhoods. It will house fifth graders and help save two pre-k classes that faced cuts.

"It is thrilling to walk through the gates of P.S. 144 and see the school trailer in the schoolyard," said Pam Chowayou, one of the parents who advocated for it. "That trailer represents the culmination of our community's efforts to keep our pre-k and kindergarten kids at their locally zoned schools this fall."


Hmmm... is that what it represents? Seems to me it represents a sanctuary city with no growth planning.

Inappropriate school behavior under investigation

From NBC:

The Department of Education is investigating after NBC 4 New York obtained a video showing kids fighting and horsing around in the middle of the day, apparently on school grounds.

The video shows a room full of students, some throwing punches and others wrestling.

A concerned mom who did not want her identity disclosed told NBC 4 New York her child, a student at M.S. 226 in Ozone Park, was in the trailer last week and showed her the video.

"It just seemed like a cage and kids going wild," the mom said.

She says her child was sent to the trailer as punishment one day last week because the child was not wearing the required school shirt. The child says all the kids in the trailer were there for detention, and that the trailer is regularly used for that purpose.

NBC 4 New York could not independently confirm where and when the video was shot, but the mother and child say it was the day the child was in the trailer.

Kids learning in trailers not counted

From DNA Info:

Richmond Hill High School is so crowded that, at any given time, 375 students are attending classes in temporary trailers next to the school, according to the school's PTA.

But the Department of Education's latest report on school trailers did not list any students in temporary classrooms there. It also didn't count thousands of other students in trailers at dozens of public schools across the city, advocates said in a report released Friday.

The School Construction Authority's 2012 report on trailers listed 7,158 students in the temporary classrooms, which are often criticized by parents and teachers as moldy, leaky and disruptive of students' learning.

But the School Construction Authority's number did not include thousands of students from 47 schools who were in trailers but were not counted because of technicalities, the study found.

For example, at 14 high schools, including Richmond Hill High School, the DOE did not count any students in trailers because the trailers were not used as homerooms, according to the School Construction Authority's explanation of the numbers.

And in 28 elementary schools and three middle schools, no children were counted in the trailers because the temporary classrooms were used for art, music or other special classes, rather than standard academic subjects, the School Construction Authority said.

Trailer space better than no space at all

From the Times Ledger:

Francis Lewis High School in Fresh Meadows has a capacity of about 2,100 students, but today more than 4,000 are enrolled and many attend classes in one of the school’s eight outdoor trailers.

As Mayor Bill de Blasio tries to make good on a promise that dates back to the Bloomberg administration to rid New York City of its school trailers, Francis Lewis is one of many schools across the city left to worry about where to put those students.

“I would love to eliminate [the trailers], but if we do that, then we have nowhere to put our kids,” said Arthur Goldstein, chapter leader of the United Federation of Teachers at Francis Lewis. “That’s a big problem for us.”

In 2009, enrollment at Francis Lewis was at more than 200 percent capacity. Teachers were working from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and at one point were teaching 13 periods in one day in an attempt to serve all students, Goldstein said.

Bryant High School has a mini-jail on campus

From the NY Post:

The principal of William Cullen Bryant HS in Long Island City, Queens, has rounded up more than 20 failing kids with behavior problems — and put them in a trailer where they stay all day.

Principal Namita Dwarka calls the boxy, red trailer housing the confined misfits “the Scholars Academy.”

Teachers come to the trailer for English, math, science, history and other classes. Even lunch is brought in. If kids go into the cafeteria, they are not served, one told The Post. The only break is phys ed in the yard, when a teacher “rolls out the balls.”

“Most of the kids are not happy with the situation,” a staffer said.

Gus Prentzas, president of the Bryant HS parents association, calls the treatment “unacceptable.”

Some “act crazy” during class, making it difficult to concentrate on work, one trailer student said. Others defiantly listen to music on headphones.

Well, what are you supposed to do with disruptive students since you apparently can't suspend or expel them anymore?

DOE cleans up moldy trailers

From NY1:

Water leaking in through cracked walls. Mold growing in ceilings from vents.

The photo seen above was taken by a teacher at Richmond Hill High School of the ceiling of one of the nearly two dozen trailers where hundreds of students go to class.

"They're kept in deplorable conditions, where they don't clean them properly," said Charles diBenedetto, a teacher at Richmond Hill High School. "The floors sink in because the moisture seeps in through the sheet metal that's outside, seeping in through the walls, causing the floors to bevel and crack. Some of our trailers actually have metal plates where the floors should be, so that way, nobody falls through the floor."

DiBenedetto requested an inspection by the teachers' union's health unit. So did teachers at Cardoza High School. At Francis Lewis High School, teacher Arthur Goldstein called the union after being interviewed by NY1 for a previous report on trailer conditions.

The DOE responded quickly to the health reports, cleaning trailers at Francis Lewis and Cardozo in the days before school started. At Richmond Hill, the DOE said that students have been temporarily removed from the moldy units until they're made safe.

Flushing & Whitestone parking hogs

"As street parking is becoming increasingly difficult in this part of the neighborhood some tenants don't have any regard for their neighbor’s needs, they bring boats, trucks, schools buses and also big RV's to be stored permanently on the streets in front (or not) of their houses taking valuable parking space from their respective neighbors.

Others park cars for years and although is not against the law there should be an ordinance that help remove from the streets vehicles that have been there for more than an specified amount of time, also, not to allow vehicles bigger than a certain size to be stored not only preventing neighbors from parking but preventing the view, sunlight and breeze to reach certain dwelling units besides being eyesores.


In front of 21-17 147th Street in Whitestone there's what appears to be a huge covered RV permanently parked taking some two or three parking spaces.


Near the corner of Union Street and 26th Avenue in Flushing in front of the Mitchell Gardens #1 coop building 142-15 26th Avenue there's another RV type of truck color brown with license plates FCR-3579 that has been parked there for months now. It’s near the water hydrant in front of the playground

In front of 146-16 25th Rd in Flushing there's a black BMW parked on the street for years, I’ve been walking this block at least once a week for a long time now and this car has always been there in the same position, you can see the marks of time on the car’s body and tires. License plates AXM-9464.

In front of 144-13 26th Avenue in Flushing there’s a very long limousine belonging to Royal Way Limousine Inc with license plates T621443C that barely moves from this place, the owner could park blocking his/her own driveway in order to save someone else some space.

All these vehicles are taking someone else's parking space, most people in these parts need the street parking space because most tenants in the neighborhood rent and don't have the right to use the driveway since landlords store their property in the garage of the house they rent to other people." - anonymous