Residents Rage After Nearly 3 Dozen Cars Vandalized In Bay Ridge Neighborhood
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Dozens of people in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn woke up to an unpleasant surprise Sunday morning -- 32 vehicles vandalized, some with tires slashed.
Fed-up drivers said they're being targeted by a vandal, or vandals, and it's costing them thousands of dollars in damages to their cars, CBS2's Christina Fan reported.
For several blocks along Shore Road in Brooklyn, you'll find flat tires and gouges in the paint on car after car. Hector Vargas was so upset, he could hardly articulate his anger into words.
"There's about a couple of thousand of dollars worth of damage just to my car alone. There has to be a different way of entertaining themselves other than doing damage to people, hardworking people," Vargas said.
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Vargas' car was one of the nearly three dozen vandalized overnight near 72nd Street in Bay Ridge, and they are not the only victims.
Gale Young said she still hasn't found the money to repair her car after it was keyed two weeks ago. She said she believes the same suspects keep coming back.
"I don't know why anybody would be doing this. They think it's fun? This isn't fun. This isn't funny. This isn't something you do for jollies," Young said.
Families said the tire slashings began about a month ago. The first incidents happened in the park parking lot near 93rd Street. After police put up a temporary light, the suspects starting moving south, hitting cars near 87th Street and then 72nd this weekend.
"Just the fact that they haven't been caught means that they can just continue," Young said.
Neighbors said they and their council member have been pushing for the Department of Transportation and Parks Department to add permanent lighting and surveillance cameras to Shore Road. But so far, nothing has been done.
"It makes you scared to park your car and go to bed at night. Come down in the morning, can you go to work? Can you go to where you have to go? It's a shame," resident Tom Dowd said.
Many are now parking on side streets or shelling out even more money to park in garages until whoever is responsible caught, Fan reported.
CBS2 learned Sunday night the local police precinct plans to increase patrols and add extra lighting near 72nd Street.