proposed ‘Junior’s Law’,
which refl ects the safe haven
concept that was recently
enacted.
Elected offi cials aren’t
the only individuals that
wanted to see a safe haven
program come to fruition,
though.
Junior’s father,
Lisandro Guzman spoke
highly of Sepulveda’s proposed
bill, saying “I hope
this bill that carries my
son’s name gets passed so
it can prevent situations
like this from happening
again.”
On the two-month anniversary
of Junior’s death,
his mother Leandra Feliz
and many more returned
to that cursed corner, refl
ecting on her son’s life
and calling for a safe haven
to be created in the
neighborhood.
“I still can’t believe
what happened, it still
doesn’t feel real to me,”
said Junior’s mother.
“There’s been so much to
process with this that I
simply haven’t yet,” the
grieving mother added.
Leandra went on to
share the fi nal memories
that her and Junior had
shared, which came just
moments before the gruesome
attack.
“He called me right before,
he said he was running
downstairs to give
a friend fi ve dollars, but
he was taking too long so
I called him back and the
last thing he said to me
was “I’m coming back now
mommy,” that was the last
thing that my son ever said
to me,” she said.
Just about every day
now, she goes to her son’s
fi nal resting place in St.
Raymond’s Cemetery to
refl ect on Junior’s life and
the years of memories that
the mother and son had
shared.
While the bodega has
changed ownership and
management since the tragedy,
the grieving mother
continues to feel the pain
that the events of that day
have permanently etched
into her memory.
“This is a corner of
death, I’ve lived in this
area for 17 years and this
is a troubled intersection,
we need a safe haven,” Leandra
said.
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
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 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.
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NYPD tickets Bruckner Blvd.’s
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Justice for Junior bodega
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