Car Dealership That Clogs Bayside Streets Targeted In NYPD Swoop

BAYSIDE, QUEENS – Police towed more than a dozen cars that had been clogging streets and sidewalks around a Bayside car dealership Wednesday night after a slew of complaints from neighbors saying they made parking impossible.

The NYPD's 111th precinct tweeted Wednesday night that 13 cars were towed and more than 50 summonses written in the late night sweep between 202nd Street and Northern Boulevard.

Neighbors said those cars came from Bayside Imports, a used car dealership at 20201 Northern Blvd. Patch previously reported the dealer left cars sitting in the streets, sometime for years, because his lot was overflowing.

Danny Simone, who lives across from the car dealership, previously told Patch he'd complained about the car dealership's illegal parking for two years to no avail.

But he said on Wednesday, he came home Wednesday night to find the aggressive tow underway.

"They were right in the middle of it," Simone said. "I told the cops they brought me an early Christmas present."

He said the NYPD had four tow trucks pulling the cars.

"I guess they wanted to send them a message," he said. "You better abide by the law or else they're just going to start pulling cars."

It is illegal for cars to impede sidewalks or take up street parking spots for more than seven days at a time, according to the City of New York.

Simone said he was told the aggressive towing was the result of the precinct's November community council meeting, where more than a dozen people showed up to complain about the cars. He said an officer who drove by the dealership shortly after saw two of its cars parked facing the wrong way along Northern Boulevard.