Late night noise from dump trucks driving to a construction site in a Flushing block has caused quite a disruption, and one resident is looking to put an end to it, once and for all.
In an email to QNS, the woman, who declined to provide her name for privacy concerns, said massive construction vehicles had been showing up throughout the summer at all hours of the night at the construction site located at 36-25 172nd St.
“The building that was on the lot was sold last year and demo took place several months ago. Construction started in July or August, and the trucks became a problem in August,” she told QNS. “They either stopped coming for a while, or I didn’t hear them with the air conditioner on at night, but now that it’s been nice enough to sleep with the windows open again, the trucks wake us up every night.”
The Flushing resident filed several complaints with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and an NCO police officer from the 109th Precinct about the noisy commotion that has kept her up late at night, unable to sleep, she said.
“The idling has somewhat stopped since I filed proper complaints with the DEP, but trucks continue to arrive at this work site at all hours of the night and morning,” the woman said. “This morning, trucks came at 12:30, 1:30 and 2:30 a.m. They park in the hydrant on the block and in the driveway of the construction site.”
“Do you know what a giant dump truck sounds like trying to parallel park at that hour?” she added.
In response to her complaint, the NCO officer (who patrols the area known as Sector D) had advised the workers at the site about the complaints, however, the noise remains ongoing, she said.
When she contacted DEP, she was told to file a Citizen Air Complaint on the DEP website for trucks idling for more than two minutes, which she says she has done several times, sending photos and videos of the trucks parked outside her bedroom window.
In a letter sent on Sept. 7, the DEP said they have reviewed the complaints received on Aug. 13 and Aug. 14. As a result, a summons will be written by a DEP air pollution inspector.
“Three out of four reports I filed are under investigation with pending hearings,” she told QNS.
According to the resident, the dump trucks are from a company called Elohim Truck Services & Collision in Lafayette, N.J., arriving between the hours of 12:15 a.m. and 5 a.m., sometimes idling across the street from the construction site.
“The idling is loud enough that we can’t have a conversation inside our house when these trucks arrive. There is absolutely no reason for these trucks to arrive at the hours they do,” she said.
Although the NCO officer notified her about the site’s work permit that were in order and they were granted an after-hours permit, she says their after-hour work permit does not cover after 5 p.m.
She has also contacted state Senator John Liu’s office seeking help, and was told that they’re reporting the issue to the DEP.
As of late, she says she will not stop “nagging until the 109 does something.”
“The more I’m awakened at 2 a.m. by these trucks, the crankier I’m going to get, so I’d really like to put an end to it,” she said.
In a statement to QNS, Liu’s office said, “We are working on a multitude of constituent requests, which we consider confidential for the constituent.”
