Queens Towing Company with NYPD Contract Sued for Allegedly Ripping Off Drivers

By:  Ellen Cans

On Saturday, a new class-action lawsuit, was filed in Manhattan Supreme Court seeking over $58 million in damages from Runway Towing Corp, the NYPD, and the city Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.  As reported by the NY Post, the suit alleges that the Queens towing company ripped off thousands of drivers and had a monopoly on many New York City highways, while the NYPD and city officials let them run the illegal “racketeering enterprise”.  The suit accuses the NYPD of repeatedly extending Runway’s contract since 2013 without accepting competitive bids, and to turning a blind eye to the many complaints the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection was getting about the company.

The suit claims Runway earned over $200 million since 2010, off its contract with the NYPD to provide roadside assistance and towing services on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the Kosciusko Bridge, the Cross Island Parkway in Queens, parts of the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn and Queens, the Brooklyn’s Gowanus Expressway and Prospect Expressway, the Staten Island Expressway, West Shore Expressway, Korean War Veterans Parkway and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway on Staten Island.  The suit accuses Runway of using shady practices to beef up profits– including towing vehicles from all over to the company’s far off office in Ozone Park.  This alleged move cost drivers thousands of dollars in extra towing and storage charges, former Runway workers and clients told The Post.

The city is also on the hook in the suit, for allegedly conspiring to allow the operation to continue for so long.  The two city agencies “conspired … to allow Runway to operate … even though at least six years ago motorists were telling them that Runway is overcharging consumers,” said lawyer Gary Rosen, who represents Runway customers and ex-staffers in the lawsuit.

Towing fees under Runway’s city contract are supposed to hover around $125 plus tax.  Customers, however, say Runway has its ways of charging plenty of additional fees.  Extra fees are tacked on if the tow is longer than 10 miles, and more fees are added for storing a vehicle at their facility.  “If the accident happened on Staten Island, there should be a place here for the cars to be towed. I think it’s ridiculous that you have to go to another [borough],” said Mary Olsen, 62.  She said that two years ago her 2000 Nissan Altima was hit and totaled on the Staten Island Expressway.  She told the Post that the car was towed all the way to Ozone Park, without her consent, and then she had to pay $27 a day in storage fees.  She couldn’t pay off her tab and they wouldn’t let her access the car without paying first, so she had to pay Runway $325 in cash plus sign off the car’s title over to the company to cover the debt for the towing and storage.

Runway was previously sued in a separate class-action suit filed in Brooklyn federal court in December 2019 which is still pending.  A lawyer for Runway responded saying: “To accuse Runway, the NYPD, and the Department of Consumer [and Worker Protection] of operating an enterprise” violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act “is not only silly but sanctionable,” said attorney Errol Margolin. “Any such lawsuit will be dismissed because there is no enterprise, no conspiracy, and no conduct that is illegal.”