Eastern Queens officials say that the loud and reckless driving behavior taking over their parking lots at night is a stroke of a pen away from being curbed.
Current state traffic laws do not include parking lots under the definition of reckless driving, which is considered a misdemeanor. At the start of 2023, Assembly Member Nily Rozic and state Sen. John Liu introduced legislation in their respective chambers to amend the definition and prohibit stunt driving in the parking lots of shopping centers and parks.
Since then, the bill passed in both the Assembly and Senate. Elected officials, as well as local community leaders and residents, are now calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign it into law as the last step.
At a Monday morning press conference in the parking lot of the Fresh Meadows Shopping Center, both Liu and Rozic said that the bill was directly in response to countless complaints from their constituents. It’s an issue that they say worsened during the pandemic.
“Enough is enough,” said Rozic, noting that the vast and busy parking lot is the “scene of a lot of reckless driving over the last few years.”
The reckless driving is described as car meetups where drag racing and donut maneuvers are performed for spectators. Dozens of sports-like cars will queue up in the neighborhood around sunset on Friday and Saturday nights. Then they’ll collectively travel between parking lots throughout the night, all while evading law enforcement and disrupting sleeping residents.
One of the chief complaints is the disruptive noise, which stems from revving engines, screeching tires and music blasting from speakers. The leaders of local civic groups and tenant associations say that thousands of residents who reside near the frequented parking lots are affected.
In recent years, yellow parking spot barriers and speed bumps were installed at the Fresh Meadows Shopping Center—which features chain stores, mom-and-pop businesses, and medical offices—to discourage reckless driving after business hours end. But it has not been enough to end the issue.
“This particular bill, it’s been a long time coming,” Liu said. “It’s not just a quality of life issue; it’s a matter of life and death.”
He added that “doing stunts, having drag races, beginning their drag races, ending their drag races, getting all sorts of people riled up over what these amazing cars can do… should not be done in parking lots.”
Liu also noted that since this particular parking lot is private property, local police officers’ actions are limited compared to those on the street. That technicality has thwarted efforts to shut down these events more promptly.
Local resident Jill Harper, who also owns Meadows Cafe inside the shopping center, said that for years she’s been kept awake by the nightly “terror” from drivers revving their engines as they make their way between parking lots in the neighborhood.
“This is a potentially catastrophic, lethal situation that needs to be rectified,” said Harper alongside the officials on Monday. “Our law enforcement has been tied up for too long, unable to actually tackle this issue.”
The residents of nearby civic and tenant associations also echoed the complaints of reckless driving in the community during the gathering. And they thanked their representatives in Albany for taking legislative action to improve their quality of life.
“Nights have been disturbed by loud noises coming from the cars revving up in the parking lots. People doing all kinds of tricks,” said Sol Sturm, President of the Fresh Meadows Tenants Association. “They’re supposed to be coming here shopping, instead they’re coming here to wreak havoc.”
The issue is not just a problem at shopping centers. These disruptive car meetups also occur in the parking lots at parks– such as Cunningham Park and Fort Totten. The drivers are also known to leave their trash.
“Our residents not only hear this, but if they want to go for a nice walk in the park or enjoy living near the park, they can’t do that. It’s unsafe. And it’s disturbing. It’s horrible. So we complain incessantly,” said Elaine Young, the President of West Cunningham Park Civic Association.
Collectively, the heads of local civic groups and the elected officials are pushing for the governor to sign the bill into law. They hope that the modification of the state’s traffic law, which would prohibit reckless driving in parking lots, will bring some quiet to their community.
“We are tired of it, and it just takes a stroke of a pen for Governor Hochul to make this reality,” said Marie Adam-Ovide, Chairperson of Community Board 8 and President of the Utopia Civic Association. “Please, governor, sign this bill.”
