A Queens civic association is currently locked in a battle for its streets against commercial van operators who, it claims, are operating illegally and poaching commuters from the MTA.
COMET (Communities of Maspeth and Elmhurst Together), a non-profit organization covering Maspeth, Elmhurst and sections of Woodside, has taken up arms against fleets of vans in their communities that they claim have congested streets, countered their efforts to “green” their neighborhoods and operated along MTA bus routes.
“They block our streets and intersections,” said COMET President Roe Daraio. “We’ve had complaints of these buses stopping right in the middle of Grand Avenue.”
According to Daraio, the vans had been authorized to operate in a portion of Community Board 4, but have since illegally expanded, and are now encroaching on the neighborhoods in Community Board 5, causing conflicts to arise in an area with already congested streets.
COMET’s chief complaint is the reports they receive about the vans operating along MTA established bus routes, which COMET claims they are doing illegally.
“They’re picking people up along bus routes, which they’re not supposed to do,” said Daraio, adding that the van companies are only supposed to pick up passengers who had made appointments. However, she claims that the vans are operating as buses, driving along routes, and picking people up at stops.
“We just had a complaint where a van stopped right in the middle of an intersection – and a driver stuck behind it saw two women walk in off the street and hand the driver money,” she said.
Daraio claims that the city regulations dictate that in order for a commuter van to operate in a section of the city, there must be a need in the community for it. However, she noted that this section of Queens has ample public transportation. The MTA even expanded the service on the Q67 line.
COMET is also complaining that all the vans seem to have the same license plate designations, regardless of their size. This leads to speculation about whether the vans are even properly insured.
“When you see that they all have the same plates, it leads to the question of whether these companies are lying about how many seats they have. If they get into an accident, will you be covered?” she said.
COMET will be holding their next meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, June 7 at the Bethzatha Church of God, 85-20 57th Avenue in Elmhurst.
