Exclusive: Queens Residents Fed Up With Late-Night Drag Racing, Noise At Parking Garage
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Some Queens residents say a local parking garage has turned into a party hot spot at night.
Since last year, they’ve been woken up to loud noise and drag racing at all hours, and they say their complaints were met with silence — until CBS2’s Lisa Rozner got involved.
You can call it a screeching annoyance or a bump in the night, but some Queens residents say it’s no mystery where the obnoxiously loud noises come from if you live on either side of a parking garage on Union Turnpike near the border of Glendale and Forest Hills.
Some say they hear it even from apartments 20 stories up.
“The bass is so bad, it’s shaking,” Glendale resident Lori Diamond said. “I can hear it from my bedroom.”
“After a few minutes that I sleep, I hear again these crazy noises,” Forest Hills resident Eugene Pamposa.
Tire marks can be seen on the second-floor rooftop of the garage attached to a strip mall anchored by a Stop & Shop in Queens. (Credit: CBS2)
Tire marks can be seen on the second-floor rooftop of the garage attached to a strip mall anchored by a Stop & Shop.
Neighbors sent CBS2 911 calls and 311 complaints at all hours of the night — 11 p.m., 2:30 a.m., 4:30 a.m.
“What I was told by the police was that they can’t get there for another few hours,” Diamond said.
So CBS2 asked the person sitting inside a car labeled “Front-Line Building Services” if a security car was there 24 hours a day.
The security person, who did not want to be identified, said they only work until midnight. The individual was aware of the noise, however.
“I have to go up there a lot of times and really tell them, you know you can’t be here, and then I will call the precinct if they don’t comply,” the individual said.
The NYPD says the 112th Precinct issued 1,366 summonses there last year, and 95% of them were for speeding. Police say they do monitor social media for car meet-ups, especially when they plan to meet at parking lots.
Some residents say there’s a simple solution — put in gates at the entrance to the garage so that no vehicles can enter when the stores close.
CBS2 tried contacting the property owner, which city records show is Sol Goldman Investments, tied to Solil Management. The company had no comment and said Stop & Shop manages and controls the garage.
A spokesperson there said “no trespassing” signs were recently installed to allow police to take action.
“People need to sleep. You know, we all live together. We’re a dense city and we need to be more considerate of others,” Diamond said.
Residents just want this newfound parking playground to stop taking the peace out of their neighborhood.
Since CBS2 visited the garage and started demanding answers, Stop & Shop says security hours have no been extended overnight until 6 a.m. They also said they plan to install chains as a way to close off the garage rooftop in off hours.
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February 01, 2020 at 10:05AM
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