A black Jeep Cherokee hasn’t budged from Kennelworth Place since February, according to an anxious neighbor. The vehicle has three flat tires and missing headlamps. It is parked between Ampere Avenue and Middletown Road, near Pelham Bay Park.
The vehicle’s owner doesn’t live on the block, the neighbor believes. The aggravated Spencer Estate resident has phoned 311 to no avail. Parking is tight enough in the neighborhood without vehicles being warehoused on the street. Kennelworth is quiet; the dilapidated vehicle gives the block a feeling of abandonment. The neighbor is concerned that the vehicle will become a target of vandals. Someone recently replaced a side panel on the vehicle.
On Thursday, July 8, Community Board 10 district manager Ken Kearns contacted the 45th Precinct. Police will check the vehicle’s license plate to see if it is valid or stolen. If it is stolen, the car will be removed. If not, there may not be anything the 45th Precinct can do.
There once was a 24-hour street storage limit law but no such rule exists in the city today, 45th Precinct community affairs officer Anne Marie Morrison said.
The limit made it inconvenient to stay at a hospital or go on vacation. The 45th Precinct doesn’t have the authority to remove a vehicle from the street, Morrison said. Even if it did, there’d be no room for it at the 45th.
If a vehicle is warehoused on the street and shows an expired license plate, it may be ticketed by parking enforcement. If the vehicle’s owner pays the ticket, the vehicle stays. If the summonses are not paid, eventually, when the ticket amount reaches a certain threshold, the city will tow the vehicle away, Morrison said. If a vehicle is blocking a fire hydrant or driveway, its owner will receive additional tickets.
Residents should phone the 45th Precinct immediately to report vehicles warehoused on the street, Morrison said. Although the 45th Precinct may not be able to remove the vehicle, an officer will be sent out to investigate. Morrison fields squatter vehicle complaints from every corner of the 45th Precinct, she said.
A blue Chevrolet Impala on Ampere Avenue and a black Honda Accord on Outlook Avenue were still parked in Spencer Estate on Thursday, July 8. Spencer Estate Civic Association vice president Ronnie Clough asked 45th Precinct Captain Dimitrios Roumeliotis to remove the Impala at a meeting on Wednesday, June 17.
It has been warehoused on the street for more than a year and bears two different Michigan license plates, Clough said.
“I’m very disappointed the car is still here,” Clough said. “The [Impala’s owner] doesn’t even live here.”
