After taking office this month, Council Member Phil Wong announced his office is partnering with the NYPD Transportation Bureau to address transit safety and “quality-of-life” concerns, such as illegal parking.
According to 311 statistics compiled by the State Comptroller’s office, illegal parking has been one of the top three complaints within District 30 for years now, with residents reporting an uptick in the behavior following the COVID-19 pandemic. Wong stated he would address the issue throughout his time on the campaign trail and met with traffic enforcement officials Jan. 12 to begin the work of fulfilling the promise.
“Quality of life is integral to how our residents feel about their block, their neighborhood, and their city,” Wong said. “I intend to continue this crackdown on derelict vehicles, RVs, illegal truck parking, and shops that treat our streets like private lots, and to target illegally registered and parked vehicles that take valuable parking away from law-abiding neighbors. These enforcement actions will continue so long as I am in office, and I’m grateful to the NYPD Transportation Bureau for being a strong partner in this work.”
Wong met with Transportation Bureau Chief Olufunmilola “Lola” Obe and Deputy Chief Brian O’Sullivan to discuss how best to approach the law-breaking on the majority residential streets of Maspeth, Middle Village and Glendale. The bureau plans on working with local precincts and citywide traffic units to lay the groundwork for targeted responses regarding the vehicles in District 30 and the rest of the city.
In 2025, the 104th Precinct alone towed close to 1,000 cars with plenty more in jurisdiction of both the 110th and 112th Precincts. Wong noted that the agency and police will put emphasis on targeting RVs parked long-term on residential streets, trucks parking overnight and the many auto-body shops and tow companies that use public streets to store cars. On Jan. 11, Wong posted on Facebook showing several derelict cars, both abandoned and stored out front by the auto-body shops, being towed in coordination with the 104th Precinct.
For now, residents are encouraged to continue reporting the vehicles via 311 to ensure the local precinct and in turn Transportation Bureau are alerted to the violations.
“To anyone using our district as a dumping ground for junk cars: enforcement will continue and we’ll keep towing them. Thank you to the 104th Precinct for stepping up and helping keep our streets clean,” Wong wrote.
