Riverdale residents sound off about RVs, big trucks left seemingly unattended in neighborhoods
NEW YORK -- A quaint residential street in the Riverdale section of the Bronx has been invaded by something residents call ugly and illegal.
Big trucks and recreational vehicles have been deposited there for months and in one case, more than a year.
It's an RV that might as well be a mountain. Since last spring it hasn't moved an inch, according to Riverdale residents who say they bristle every time they see it rooted in place on residential 245th Street near Broadway.
"You don't know who is coming and going or what they're doing," Dan McCarron said.
"Every day I come walk with my dog but no see nobody," a resident named Justina added.
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Does anyone live in the RV? It's hard to tell. Someone taped "Get Out" signs on the RV days ago and no one pulled them down.
State Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz says even with valid plates and proper registration, this is not right.
"People don't have the right to park indefinitely on a residential street like this and certainly don't have the right to live here, if that's what's happening," Dinowitz said.
Dinowitz has helped fixed this kind of problem for his constituents before. Just last month, he made the NYPD aware of a row of illegally parked RVs, repurposed delivery trucks and even an old ambulance, which are seen in a photo bumper to bumper on the Henry Hudson Parkway's northbound service road.
Some were towed and some others were scattered. A thick file of neighbor complaints helped.
"People should do their due diligence by calling 311," Dinowitz said. "The real key is persistence."
People in the Riverdale neighborhood compare the problem to a game of whack-a-mole. No sooner do they manage to get a vehicle moved; it winds up bouncing around the neighborhood."
CBS2 saw one that was simply moved to nearby Broadway. The eyesore vehicles have a way of coming back.
"If it becomes cost-effective to keep your junk in someone else's neighborhood, you're going to do it. If you make it not cost effective, they won't," McCarron said. "Tow them."
And, at the very least, fine them.
"We have to show the NYPD that there's something there that should not be," Dinowitz said.
So why not lobby to get stricter parking regulations? It turns out the homeowners who want to scare off the RV also want to keep the street parking just the way it is.