Illegal overnight 18-wheeler parking returns again
Tractor-trailer trucks parking along the boundary of Pelham Bay Park obscure views from inside the park of Bruckner Boulevard, as seen here, and sightlines into the park from the service
road. Photo courtesy of Eddie Malave
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
Community Board 10’s unoffi cial
truck stop is back.
Area residents concerned about
safe travel along I-95 again raised
their ire over the dozen 18-wheelers
and large trucks illegally parked over
the weekend of Saturday March 16 and
Sunday, March 17 on Bruckner Boulevard
alongside Pelham Bay Park.
Bruckner Boulevard between Middletown
Road and Wilkinson Avenue
has been turned into an unoffi cial
truck stop at times, with truckers
parking their rigs and trailers overnight
and sometimes for days on end,
the residents have said.
Councilman Mark Gjonaj said that
he was alerted to the situation, and in
response asked the NYPD to ticket illegally
parked trucks.
“We are going to stay on top of this
problem with law enforcement,” said
Gjonaj.
About 11 illegally parked commercial
trucks were observed adjacent to
Pelham Bay Park last weekend, said
George Havranek, Spencer Estate
Civic Association vice president.
Matt Cruz, CB 10 district manager,
said it is a parking violation for commercial
trucks to park on any street
in the board service area after 9 p.m.,
and urged the public to report the offenders
to his offi ce or 311.
“Not a day goes by when this offi ce
is not contacting the precinct to ticket
(illegally parked) tractor trailers, and
for the most part, the precinct has
been great in getting to it,” said Cruz.
The district manager said there
are federal regulations that restrict
the number of hours truckers can
drive in one day, and that this may be
contributing to the problem.
However he knows, as does
The weekend of Saturday, March 16 and Sunday, March 17 saw as many as 11 18-wheeler tractor-trailer trucks park along the Bruckner Boulevard service road next to Pelham Bay Park.
Photo courtesy of Eddie Malave
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, M 28 ARCH 22-28, 2019 BTR
Havranek, that many trucks are being
stored on the street by truckers
that live in the area.
Havranek said it is a long-standing
issue that seems to fl are up on weekends
in locations where it’s easy to get
on and off the interstate highways.
“It is a storage issue. It is not that
we are trying to prevent truckers
from getting (their required) rest,
and no one really wants to be punitive
with them,” said Havranek.
He added that the illegal parking
on the Bruckner service road seems
to take place in every season except
when the park is being used - in the
summer, and usually fl ares up from
Thursdays to Tuesdays.
“There are certain things in certain
areas that just don’t mix, and this
is one of them,” he said.
Eddie Malave of Country Club said
that he noticed about a dozen trucks
over the weekend when he walked his
dog through Pelham Bay Park, and
said that his neighbors contacted the
precinct and urged a ticket blitz.
“A sector car needs to come by after
9 p.m. and issue them tickets,” he
said.
Malave said that he believes that
the trucks are from truckers who live
nearby, and also included the service
road at Mac Donough and Connell
places as a location where the activity
was also occurring.
At Connell Place specifi cally, a
municipal garbage truck with New
Jersey plates was parked for weeks,
he said.
The Country Club Civic Association’s
president, Arlene Grauer, said
that homeowners nearby, especially
those on Kearney Avenue, are having
to contend with large trucks stored
for days just beyond their backyards.