By Michael Morton
The Police Department officially unveiled the three-week old initiative Monday and said enforcement has already begun in places such as Zarega Avenue in the Bronx and Flatlands Avenue in Brooklyn.
The task force was expected soon on Francis Lewis Boulevard, known locally as “Franny Lew,” which has been a notorious illegal drag racing strip for nearly 20 years.
Councilman Peter Vallone (D-Astoria) has introduced legislation to increase jail time and fines for dragsters. The bill would also impose fines as well as jail sentences on spectators.
So far 19 suspected drag racers have been arrested in the Bronx and Brooklyn in the crackdown and 300 summonses have been issued to spectators, police said.
On April 8 a Little Neck girl and a Floral Park boy were seriously injured as they crossed Francis Lewis near the Horace Harding Expressway and were hit by two speeding drivers who fled the scene. The drivers who slammed into the two 14-year-olds have not been arrested, but at least three suspected dragsters were arrested on the strip within the following two weeks in unrelated cases.
While races in other areas of the city continue to feature specialized cars with exotic components such as nitrous oxide, those familiar with the scene on Francis Lewis said the contests there were more spontaneous, less organized and comprised of vehicles with less work done to them.
“We haven't come across it recently, but our guys know what to look for,” Lt. Daniel Heffernan of the 111th Police Precinct said of cars with the expensive parts.
Drag racing began on Francis Lewis when it was repaved in 1985, creating a strip two and sometimes three lanes wide that attracted young drivers on holiday and weekend nights, much to the chagrin of neighbors.
The issue came to a head in 1987, when a driver from Jackson Heights was killed when he crashed into a tree during an apparent drag race. Police initially thought a Beechhurst homeowner who lived next to Francis Lewis had deliberately created an oil slick on the street, but the man was later acquitted of manslaughter.
Residents have said police cracked down after the driver's death but drag racing, while less of a problem than before, remained an issue.
In 1988, the Bayside Times reported drag racing on Franny Lew would stop momentarily when police arrived, then pick up again, according to neighbors. State Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) called for continued enforcement and told the Bayside Times back then that “from time to time we've had the help of the Police Department. The general response from the police is 'we'll do what we can.'”
Five years later, the Bayside Times reported that community boards responded to the problem by placing no standing signs along Francis Lewis to cut down on the drag racing scene.
In 1994, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown began Operation Hermes, a joint effort with the police to monitor the races with undercover officers, arrest the drivers and seize their cars.
“As a result of Operation Hermes, police and prosecutors have eliminated the larger, organized races,” Brown said recently.
But the races in some form continued. In 2000, a Brooklyn man accused of shooting to death a Long Island father after an illegal street race on Francis Lewis was sentenced to 37 1/2 years in prison.
In the spring of 2001 officers from the 111th Precinct seized a Ford Mustang and an Eagle Talon after an apparent drag race on Francis Lewis. Several months later the 111th confiscated two Hondas, one of which was driven by a Bayside man, after another suspected speed contest.
Area civic leaders said the races have been a continuing nuisance, ebbing immediately after police crackdowns. The races, which once took place along the northern stretches of the boulevard, have migrated southward in recent years, the leaders said, and now seem to be concentrated along Cunningham Park.
It was in that area, at the intersection of Francis Lewis Boulevard and Horace Harding Expressway, that the two 14-year-olds were hit on April 8. Christina Vroulis of Little Neck has been released from the hospital, but Saverio Sportella of Floral Park remains hospitalized with multiple fractures.
Robert Unger, the lawyer for the Sportella family, said he plans to sue the drivers when they are caught and is considering a negligence suit against the city. But the negligence attorney he brought in to help declined to comment further.
After the accident, elected officials called for a new stoplight and the passage of legislation authorizing speeding cameras.
Councilman David Weprin (D-Hollis) said the city's Department of Transportation would study the area soon and might consider speed bumps.
Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) said any new mechanical measures would help law enforcement. “The truth is, especially in northeast Queens, the police are stretched as thin as can be.”
And Padavan, when reminded of his comments in 1988, said police needed to seize vehicles on a more consistent basis.
“Obviously drag racing has gone up and down over the years,” he said.
During the two weeks following the hit-and-run, police from the 111th Precinct seized three cars during two separate apparent races.
Lt. Heffernan of the 111th said his precinct does have the manpower for consistent enforcement and that officers seize cars on a regular basis.
“We always consider it a serious issue for us,” he said about the illegal street racing. He attributed continued drag races on Francis Lewis, even after intense media and police coverage, to one simple factor.
Said Heffernan: “I think it's total ignorance.”
Reach reporter Michael Morton by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by calling 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
