NYPD tickets Bruckner Blvd.’s illegally parked 18-wheelers
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
Truckers that are storing
their vehicles on a highway
service road were summonsed
during a recent NYPD crackdown.
Tractor trailer trucks illegally
parked along Bruckner
Boulevard between Middletown
Road and Wilkinson Avenue
along Pelham Bay Park
have been a perennial issue
that has reared its head again.
The stretch of road adjacent
to the Bruckner
Expressway/I-95 has seen a
great deal of overnight parking
of large 18-wheeler tractor
trailer trucks recently,
especially on weekends, said
George Havranek, Spencer
Estate Civic Association vicepresident.
Councilman Mark Gjonaj,
responding to community requests,
asked the NYPD to
take action. The police ticketed
three of the vehicles on
Tuesday, January 29, said the
councilman.
Gjonaj said he feels that
some tolerance should be afforded
the truckers because
under federal regulations they
are permitted to operate a rig
only a certain number of con-
Illegal parking of tractor-trailer trucks and other commercial vehicles along Bruckner Boulevard adjacent to
Pelham Bay park remains a perennial issue. Schneps Media / Patrick Rocchio
secutive hours before they
must get off the road and take
a long rest before resuming
their trip.
This rule addresses valid
safety concerns. When a parking
summons enforcement
blitz occurs it can disrupt this
delicate balancing act, he explained.
However, Gjonaj also said
illegally parked trucks are
breaking the law and need to
be ticketed.
“When commercial truckers
use our streets as their own
private parking lots, I have
SECURITY DRUGS
Goodman Plaza Pharmacy
We Now Accept WIC
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, F 8 EBRUARY 1-7, 2019 BTR
Accurate! Fast Friendly Service!
“In my twenty years as a
pharmacist, I’m happy to work
take care of their customers.”
Natu “Nick” Gevaria, BS Rph Pharmacist
FREE
DELIVERY
zero sympathy,” said Gjonaj.
The councilman said this
as a quality of life issue and a
potential driving hazard because
motorists and pedestrians
with blocked sightlines
have diffi culty navigating
around the trucks.
The best way to send the
violators a message is by towing
the vehicles, but the city
doesn’t have enough heavy
duty tow trucks to adequately
address the issue, he said.
Gjonaj added that he requested
that the city acquire
boot mechanisms for the
trucks.
Havranek said that he has
heard, anecdotally, that some
of the trucks that park along
Bruckner Boulevard may belong
to long-haul drivers that
live nearby.
He believes the drivers
park there while they visit
their families before hitting
the road again.
“This is a parking and storage
issue (in most instances),”
said Havranek. “I would say
that an overwhelming majority
of the tractor trailer trucks
are parked along the park on
weekends.”
Many of the trucks park on
Thursdays and Fridays and
then are moved on Mondays
and Tuesdays, he said.
On Sunday, January 19,
Havranek said he spent half
an hour at the location where
there were a number of illegally
parked trucks.
He said he observed that
they blocked a lane of traffi c
because of their width.
On three separate occasions
a vehicle travelling
north on the service road had
to move out of the right lane
because the roadway became
too narrow to support two
lanes of traffi c.
Bob Bieder, 45th Precinct
Community Council president,
said he believes that the
matter can be corrected very
easily through legislation.
“It is an ongoing battle,” he
said, adding “It is cheaper for
the truckers to pay parking
fi nes than it is for them to rent
a space to legally park.”
Tractor trailers have also
abused the Zerega Industrial
Business Zone and a portion
of Lafayette Avenue, near St.
Raymond’s Cemetery, said
Bieder.