Abandoned on the Streets: Queens Sees Surge in Derelict Vehicle Complaints Since Start of 2019

On 149th street between 95th and 97th Avenue in Jamaica, N.Y., a gray 2003 Nissan Maxima lay abandoned on a curb outside an industrial building.

There are no plates, no registration and the front-left tire is missing. There is a thin piece of plywood wedged underneath the driver’s door to keep the rest of the vehicle’s body off of the pavement.

“This car has been out on the street for two months since August,” said Carmelo Rondan, manager of CeraTile, which is a national wholesale tile dealer located where the Maxima was left.

The car sports a neon orange New York Department of Sanitation tag for removal and represents just one of the thousands of “derelict vehicles”—an abandoned car without a license plate—that are left broken on the side of Queens streets each year.

Since Jan. 2019, Queens Community District 12 has experienced an influx in derelict vehicle complaints more than any other community district across all five boroughs.

These derelict vehicles take up parking spaces for Jamaica residents living in a crowded community of 225,000 people across 9.6 square miles (23,533 people per square mile), per the 2010 Census (h/t NYC.gov Community District Profiles).

Rondan, 39, said that the Maxima was originally parked in front of his shop’s garage where customers park to pick up their orders. He had no choice but to relocate the vehicle with a forklift to clear space.

“I think the owner broke down, got bad financially—couldn’t manage financially—and left,” said Rondan.

Derelict vehicles, like the Maxima, also cause poor street conditions. Queens Community District 12 has seen a 12.8% drop in the past year in streets rated acceptably clean by the Department of Sanitation, per NYC.gov’s Agency Performing Mapping Report.

“There are a lot of junkyards; why are they coming here?” said Maria Soarez, a janitor for CeraTile and long-time resident of Jamaica.

Soarez looked to a black patch of sidewalk adjacent to the Maxima’s passenger side where its rear door used to be before it was stolen.

Rondan and Soarez said they spotted homeless people squatting in the Maxima some nights, using the car as shelter and starting fires just outside of it.

“People shoot up in there and do drugs,” said Rondan, pointing to an empty bottle of Georgi liquor on the front seat.

“That’s why I am out here,” said Soarez standing in front of the Maxima just outside CeraTile’s shop. “There is more garbage on the streets than in there.”

The process to remove derelict vehicles is supposed to be a straightforward one. Any abandoned vehicle on public property can be reported to New York City 311.

“The New York Department of Sanitation will review the complaint and determine whether the vehicle in question meets its criteria to be classified as derelict,” according to an emailed statement by the Department of Sanitation’s press office.

“Once tagged, it will be removed by the city’s vendor within three business days,” the statement continued.

Despite a streamlined process for removing derelict vehicles, complaints in Queens Community District 12 have continued to increase since 2014.

“We have no idea where they are coming from,” said Queens Community Board 12 District Manager Yvonne Reddick. “They get taken away today and tomorrow another one is out there in the same spot.”

The Department of Sanitation declined further comment when asked about the rising complaints and the growing presence of derelict vehicles in Queens Community District 12.