Law to address illegal truck parking finally goes into effect

A bill that aims to curtail commercial truck parking will go into effect on Thursday.  Eagle file photo by Ryan Schwah

By Ryan Schwach

Illegal truck parking has long been a thorn in the side of Queens residents – but relief may finally be on the way.

On Thursday, a trio of City Council bills, including one sponsored by a Queens councilmember, will go into effect and could lessen the instances of large tractor trailer trucks being parked on Queens’ residential streets.

In areas of Queens like the streets that surround John F. Kennedy Airport – one of the world’s busiest commercial hubs – tractor trailers and other large commercial vehicles park illegally for long periods of time.

The illegal parking often leads to congestion, a lack of parking for the local community and interferes with street cleaning.

The bills, including one sponsored by Southeast Queens Councilmember Nantasha Williams, would require the Department of Transportation to establish overnight parking areas for commercial vehicles in already-designated business zones.

These parking areas would only be available for commercial vehicles, and would be active for at least 10 straight overnight hours.

The other two bills would give the city Sanitation Department more authority to identify and remove derelict vehicles.

“I do hope that it does alleviate truck parking in residential neighborhoods and provides a faster and cheaper way to build capacity for trucks to park in areas that aren't a nuisance to community members,” Williams told the Eagle on Wednesday.

Williams’ bill was passed unanimously by the Council at the end of June, and was co-sponsored by 37 other members.

“Illegal commercial truck parking remains a persistent issue in Southeast Queens and communities across the city, impacting the health and safety of New Yorkers,” said Speaker Adrienne Adams in a statement. “By establishing overnight parking areas for commercial vehicles in industrial business zones that are more appropriate for trucks than residential streets, we are providing relief for both local residents and truck drivers.”

“The Council has consistently taken actions to address these quality of life issues for all communities, including the passage of laws to redesign the city’s truck route network and create off-site parking for tractor trailers,” she added. “This new law will build on our efforts to help resolve longstanding challenges in our communities.”

DOT, which is responsible for the parking areas, has been piloting “Safer Truck Parking for Safer Streets,” a program which introduces a new metered parking option in select industrial business zones for commercial vehicles, including large tractor trailers, in an effort to improve parking compliance and minimize overnight truck parking in residential areas.

Williams and fellow Southeast Queens leaders called out the DOT in March for not including the JFK area in the pilot program, instead only running it in Flatlands in Brooklyn, Hunt’s Point in the Bronx and Maspeth.

“I'm actually quite confused as to why my community was not included in this pilot,” Williams said in March. “I know tons of communities deal with truck parking related issues, but I will endeavor to say that the Southeast Queens community…have been dealing with this issue for far longer than I've been in the Council.”

According to Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers, the pilot program, despite being announced in March, has not actively parked any trucks just yet.

The councilmember told the Eagle that the DOT has used that time to identify possible sites in those communities and get a “headstart” on the legislation.

“The agency is in the midst of the beginning stages of that pilot program,” Brooks-Powers said. “There are some additional stages before it is considered fully implemented.”

That has included trying to find a site in Queens after the local uproar over the JFK area not being included in the initial pilot.

This week, Brooks-Powers toured a possible site in Springfield Gardens, but said the area has its challenges.

“We are a community that nestles right one of the busiest airports in the nation, that has one of the highest traffic traffic for cargo, and so it becomes challenging,” she said. "It's not going to be an easy task to identify the most ideal location, because all of these things are things that have to be taken into account. “

In general, Brooks-Powers said the legislation is a positive step toward addressing the issue.

“This legislation and the pilot program itself, they're not set out to solve illegal truck parking in its entirety, it's a tool in the toolbox,” she said.

DOT declined to comment on the legislation going into effect on Wednesday, and said the agency is continuing to monitor the pilot program.

James Johnson, the executive director of the GatewayJFK Business Improvement District, hopes the bill going into effect will finally address the issues, but wants enforcement of illegal parking to pick up as well.

“The bill will not work if there's no enforcement,” he said. “We need enforcement, and if enforcement is happening, then this bill can work magically.”