Village of Russell Gardens Mayor Steven Kirschner said last week the village is making headway on the problem of unregistered and illegally parked cars in front of two car dealerships on Northern Boulevard.
Kirschner said he met with state Sen. Jack Martins and Frank Pearson, the regional representative for the state department of transportation, on Friday May 3 to seek state assistance in towing illegally parked and unregistered vehicles.
“We saw a number of vehicles parked on Northern that have no plates,” Kirschner said. “We’re trying to figure out a way that the cars can be towed.”
Kirschner called the illegally parked cars in front of Luxory Autos of Great and Masters Auto Mall a significant problem at a May 2 board of trustees meeting.
“They’re warehousing unsold cars in lieu of parking in a lot,” Kirschner said.
But the two dealerships say the village’s concerns are overstated.
Craig Plocker, owner of Luxury Autos, said that the dealership occasionally use parking in the front during the day or in the evening when customers come to pick up their cars.
“We don’t generally leave cars in the street,” he said.
Plocker said that as with so many businesses in the area, parking is difficult and a lot of days the streets are filled on both sides.
Norman Barat, a manager at Masters Auto Mall, said the only time he was aware their cars were parked on the street was Friday May 10, when they had to move cars out of their back lot so a LIPA truck could get in to fix a downed wire.
Kirschner said he, Martins and Pearson were unable to speak with the dealership owners during their meeting. He said his predecessor, Mayor Matthew Bloomfield, had spoken to the dealerships.
At the May 2 board meeting, Deputy Mayor David Miller said he walked down the road that afternoon and counted 17 unregistered vehicles and six illegally parked vehicles in front of the dealerships.
Simply ticketing the unregistered cars is not an option, Kirschned said.
“Ticketing doesn’t stop it. Who are you ticketing?” He later added, “We’re not looking for a revenue raiser, we’re trying to fix a problem.”
Kirschner estimated the cars are eliminating a third of the parking on the street and he is looking into staffing a tow truck to tow the cars away. Because Northern Boulevard is a state road the towing would be done by either the state or the 3rd Precinct.
“It doesn’t seem like much when it’s a beautiful day, but when they are parked on the sidewalk and it’s raining and you have to walk in the street, it’s a problem.”
Kirschner was hopeful that they would reach a resolution by the end of the month. “We want to stop it now before it gets worse.”
Kirschner said the working relationship he developed with Martins when Martins was mayor of Mineola and he was serving his first round of service as mayor of Russell Gardens helped him quickly set up the meeting.
“I saw Jack two weeks ago and told him my problem, and he got right on it,” Kirschner said.
