Tire Shop Owner Fighting City Over 30K In Sidewalk Damage

The Department of Transportation (DOT) is forcing Louis Gellman, owner of Hilna Discount Tires (86th Street and Stillwell Avenue) to pay $30,000 to repair the cracked sidewalk in front of his business. Gellman believes that the MTA is responsible for the fractured sidewalk claiming that MTA construction vehicles and tremors caused by the overhead D train caused the damage.

The DOT will soon fix the fractured pavement and send a bill to the beleaguered business owner, but, according to a Brooklyn Daily report, Gellman is outraged and believes he is getting screwed over by the city.

“It’s the most insane thing I ever heard of. They leave their trucks on the sidewalk, the poles are vibrating all the time, and you’ve got veins coming out on the sidewalk,” Gellman told Brooklyn Daily.

Like all property owners, according to the law, Gellman is required to pay for maintaining the sidewalk. He was allowed to request reimbursement from the MTA, but they denied him the money claiming that the sound levels from the train’s brakes, measured at 65 decibels, were within acceptable levels.

As for Gellman’s claims that construction workers had parked their heavy vehicles on the sidewalk, possibly damaging it, MTA spokesman Charles Seaton released the following statement.

“We find no evidence that New York City Transit was working at that location when the damage occurred,” Seaton said.

Gellman, though, had photos to prove it, although the MTA denied it anyway.

While Gellman is continuing to fight the city he has thus far had no luck in successfully pleading his case.

“I’ve got all these agencies telling me, ‘It’s not our problem, you own the property,'” Gellman told Brooklyn Daily. “I’m trying to stop this and can’t get anyone to help me.”