Finally, An Abandoned Out Of State Car Is Towed

Cars with out of state plates have been taking up much of the neighborhood’s parking for a while, and at least one state (in conjunction with the NYPD, they say) is trying to fix the issue.

However, it seems there’s a shortcut–neighbor Benno Groeneveld took the issue of one abandoned car into his own hands, and relieved parking a little on his block. He says:

About three weeks ago, a canary yellow car with a Florida license plate showed up in front of our building on Dorchester Road. It came with a matching yellow boot on the back wheel, a piece of paper on the windshield with a warning to pay the fine first, remove the boot, and only then drive the car.

The car also had a parking ticket and wasn’t moved on street cleaning Thursdays. Apparently nobody was interested claiming and un-boot the car, so it sat, and it sat.

Two calls to 311 resulted in a message that the police had been informed and that they (the NYPD) had promised to deal with the car. After a week of silence, I called the Community Affairs office of the 70th Precinct, and an officer (with a great Brooklyn accent) promised action.

But it wasn’t until I called back again a week later and spoke to Officer McCormick (“Like the spice company,” she said) that things started rolling. Officer McCormick promised to dive into the city bureaucracy and hunt down the agency that could remove both the boot and the car.

She told me she had talked to something that sounded like the “Official Office of De-Booting and Towing Booted Cars,” and that they had promise to take action. And they did. I don’t know what Officer McCormick told them, but almost literally five minutes after she talked to them, I saw a tow truck depart with the yellow car in tow.

So thanks, Officer McCormick, I really appreciate you using your “pit-bull-side” (as you put it) and removing an eyesore from our block (and liberating a sorely-needed parking spot). A small step for Dorchester Road, maybe, but small steps really do count.

So yes, thanks to those involved at the NYPD, as well as Benno for his persistence! If you have a similar issue on your block, you can contact the 70th Precinct Community Affairs office at 718-851-5557.