Over 30 abandoned vehicles were removed in a section of Jamaica as a part of a widespread tow operation orchestrated between GatewayJFK Business Improvement District, NYPD’s 105th and 113th Precincts and NYPD Patrol Borough Queens South.
The cleanups, which took place last month, removed abandoned, derelict vehicles, including cars, commercial trucks, RVs, tractor-trailers and school buses. The team of law enforcement officers- including Neighborhood Coordination Officers from both precincts- NYPD Traffic, the Department of Sanitation, and the Department of Homeless Services gathered on the 113th Precinct side of Rockaway Boulevard and the 105th Precinct side of Guy R. Brewer Boulevard to orchestrate the two-day event.
GatewayJFK Executive Director James Johnson explained that the massive clean-up was years in the making. Johnson shared that community members, commercial business owners and commercial tenants living in the surrounding areas of the abandoned vehicles have complained about the vehicles for years.
The clean-up efforts kickstarted after they shared their concerns at a community town hall meeting hosted by GatewayJFK in April. “So from that meeting, there were a lot of residents, commercial owners and commercial tenants that all agreed that we have these abandoned vehicles that have been here for years, months, and something has to be done,” Johnson said.
Following the meeting, Johnson coordinated with the precincts and the Department of Homeless Services to coordinate the towing event. The groups worked to identify which vehicles were registered and unregistered and determine if commercial vehicles were in the zoning area they were designated to be in.
Johnson shared that every unregistered vehicle was towed and many of the vehicles had fake license plates. “Over by Rockaway and Baisley, near KFC area, they took massive trucks [tractor trailers]. They took everything,” he said. He noted that the precincts called the event a “historic” cleanup.
Additionally, the Department of Homeless Services offered resources to people who were revealed to be living in some of the unregistered vehicles identified during the cleanup operation. “Some of them were there for years. People were living in the [school buses] and people were living in vans. There are shelters all around, plenty of places to go to shelter, but it can’t be done here. This is GatewayJFK, a business imporvment district, and we need parking,” Johnson said.
Johnson shared that the clean-up events will continue over time. He urged community members living in surrounding areas to call 311 if they see commercial vehicles that have been in the area for a long time. Overall, Johnson said that community members reacted positively to the clean-up event.
