Over 100 Abandoned Cars Are Sitting On Forest Hills' Streets

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — More cars have been abandoned on the streets of Forest Hills during the first nine months of this year than in all of 2020 or 2019, records show.

All told, 112 Forest Hills residents have reported abandoned vehicles to 311 since the start of this year, amounting to 10-plus more calls than in all of 2020 or pre-pandemic 2019 — before the coronavirus emptied New York City's roadways and relaxed alternate side parking rules.

And, neighbors in Forest Hills aren’t alone. The number of busted cars littering the streets of Queens has skyrocketed in 2021, as compared to the last two years, making the borough a veritable dumping ground for more than 15,000 reportedly abandoned cars.

In northwest Queens, one blue BMW sat on a street corner for nearly a year with an expired registration and three flat tires. Nearby, in Astoria, another car was parked on an Open Street for almost three months until neighbors complained on Twitter and the police finally towed it.

Reports of abandoned cars in Forest Hills span the entire neighborhood — from clusters along Grand Central Parkway to a group of complaints near Metropolitan Avenue.

Patch mapped the complaints in Forest Hills to show where abandoned cars were dumped across the neighborhood. Click through the map below to explore each abandoned car complaint.

While the number of abandoned car complaints in Forest Hills pales in comparison to other parts of the borough, this isn't the first time that car-related complaints took center stage among area locals — many of whom drive cars in the suburban-like neighborhood of Queens.

In fact, parking spaces have played a central role in two major area infrastructure projects: The Queens Boulevard bike lane, and the Kew Gardens Jail.

The final phase of construction on the Queens Boulevard redesign project — which is now slated for completion next month — was long-delayed, in part because of local pushback about parking spaces.

Also, the long-disputed Kew Gardens Jail was eventually approved by Forest Hills’ City Council Member, Karen Koslowitz, with a list of conditions — one of which was the addition of 150 extra parking spots.