Truck, Van & U-Haul Fiasco in Bklyn
(The following letter was sent to members of the NYC Council)
Honored council members,
I want to bring a quality of life issue to your office’s attention- the rash of illegal parking that is ruining the quality of life on your neighborhood streets. A brief drive around the neighborhood reveals a disproportionate number of out-of-state registered vehicles that clog our streets and more than often, violate parking regulations.
On East 7th street where I reside, I’ve witnessed:
- Two extra-large Sprinter vans with commercial plates and window decal screens advertising AZB Contracting Corp registered at 1955 E 7TH St APT A6 Brooklyn, NY and are frequently parked overnight on residential streets with impunity and nary issued a summons based on a scan of their plate numbers in the How’s My Driving NY website: https://www.howsmydrivingny.nyc/
- A Toyota SUV with Florida plates GVGR84 has been parked across the street from me in front of 1892 East 7th Street since May 2021(!!!!), has not been moved even once for alternate side regulations and with outstanding judgements and violations in excess of $1,400 since 2017.
- A black minivan with Pennsylvania plates KXC0125 parked in front of the aforementioned SUV at 1896 East 7th Street and partially blocking the neighbors driveway hasn’t been moved since late August. There is a painters drop-cloth laid across construction equipment in the rear of the van along with black garbage bags of debris. On several occasions, I’ve witnessed the vehicle owner pull up in a Sprinter van with commercial-registered Pennsylvania plates and to load and unload materials between the vehicles. The commercial van’s stencil reads “SKY TOUCH RENOVATION INC” along with a local business address on McDonald Ave, and a search of that business name turns up a company with a registered address of 1955 E. 7TH ST., APT. A5, Brooklyn NY which is on the same street where both vehicles are typically parked.
Though I’ve reported these vehicles many times over the year at various times to 311, within minutes of my submission, the NYPD simply dismisses the report without the courtesy of even visiting to inspect the complaint with the lazy and bald-faced, casual lie that “The Police Department responded to the complaint and determined that police action was not necessary.”
It seems that violating street parking regulations that only cost $65 per week in alternate side violations is cheaper than finding a garage to store commercial vehicles. Especially when the NYPD refuses to act and impound these vehicles that have thousands of dollars in judgements.
My father who is copied on this email and resides on East 1st Street has also experienced the same problem on his street with commercial overnight parking of construction vehicles and has reported them on multiple occasions with the same outcome from 311— which is to say the NYPD does not care to enforce the laws and regulations and which unfortunately leads to a decrease in the quality of life.
It is time to bring this problem to light so we can resolve this. Perhaps we can even generate revenue for the city in the process, and at the same time to lower insurance costs for residents that have their vehicles properly registered in NY and whom are paying higher insurance premiums due to the fact that residents with out-of-state plates that are not paying premiums based on the risk associated with their primary residency and operation of vehicles in NY.
My idea is to propose a bill that will assess a $25 fee for overnight parking of vehicles with out of state registered license plates. This can be enforced by any and all city vehicles with ALPR-scanning camera technology, which most police cruisers are already equipped with. When out-of-state plates are scanned and found parked on residential streets between the hours of 9PM and 5AM, the system will automatically assess the parking fee and have that charged to the vehicle owner for the usage of our city’s streets. Perhaps this fee can even increase to $50 and $100 as the number of times the vehicle is observed parking on the street within any rolling calendar year basis. And of course, the same enforcement technology can be used to enforce illegal commercial vehicle overnight parking, and issue parking violation summons to their owners.
A one-time visiting guest should have no issue to readily pay this overnight parking fee to offset the cost they imposed by utilizing our city’s scarce parking resources, if they were not afforded an off-street parking space by their host. But the serial offenders, who purposely and improperly register their vehicles out of state and fail to contribute the full cost of the insurance risk they impose on other city drivers will soon learn that the $500 a year they save on car insurance will soon realize that it will end up costing them more in overnight parking fees if they do not contribute to the insurance risk pool.
Once these residents begin paying their proper insurance premium, this would then lower the premium for ALL other residents, as insurers would have a larger insurable pool from which they could spread the risk premium across.
I think this bill of this nature could be a win-win.
Sincerely
Isaac Bergman
Christian Supporter of Israel Speaks Out
Dear Editor:
I’ve been a reader of your paper for years, since a Jewish friend of mine gave it to me to learn more of Jewish issues. I’m a Christian supporter of Israel and my church is as well. I’m surprised and not amused at the many Jews who openly support the Palestinian cause even though the hate is directed at them because of the fact they are Jews. What is it that they don’t understand? Why is our Democrat Party so aligned with the Jew haters like Omar, Tlaib, Pressley, Bush and even Sanders, who claims to be Jewish?
Why do Schumer, Nadler and the rest of the Jewish Democrats in power not speak out against this Jew hating of their party? Why don’t Jewish voters speak react with their votes against this racial hatred? All these Jewish legislators have no hesitation calling out black haters. So why are they so silent about those who speak hate against Jews? Jews are the brightest when it comes to education, numbers and success in life. But why are they so dumb politically?
Sincerely
William McCue
Upcoming Election for NYC Mayor
Dear Editor:
The upcoming Mayoralty election between Curtis Sliwa and Eric Adams, will be another run-a-way for the Democrat candidate. This madness on the part of New Yorkers who should know better, will utterly destroy the city. Look at how DiBlasio was re-elected without rendering one positive decision to improve the lives of his constituents. Even the theft of $850 million of city funds by his wife didn’t cause one eyelid to blink. The “Big D” next to a candidate’s name is all it takes here to win an election.
As a lifetime Brooklyn Democrat, my vote this year will be for Sliwa. Forget about parties. He carries no political baggage. He owes nobody any favors. Unlike Adams, he will not cater to BLM and their associated radical groups. He’s a commoner. A middle class guy. His ideas might save lives. He will resurrect the NYPD to do its job. Adams will cater to the black radicals and he never spoke out against DiBlasio’s attacks on law enforcement.
Sliwa will try to stop the mass exodus from the City by those who wish to live in safety and who can afford the move. He will build up the now defunct Board of Education whose Chancellor could not now pass the basic Regents’ exams. He will work to bring back our transit system so that people can get back and forth to work, shopping and recreation in safety. If we all want a better city, let’s consider changing our voting habits to check off someone who is not on the Democrat ticket. Try it.
Sincerely
Alan Reinhardt
Brooklyn
