Crown Heights Car Owners Say Their Vehicles Are Being Held Hostage
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Some car owners in Brooklyn are now facing an unusual parking problem – claiming their cars are basically being held hostage inside a parking garage.
As CBS2's Ali Bauman reported, the garage owner is now threatening to have the cars towed.
Drone Force 2 had an easier time getting to the cars parked at 500 Sterling Pl. than some of the drivers who own them.
"This was more than two weeks that we were trying to get our car out of there," said Peter Ketchum.
Ketchum tried to get his car out, but could not – even after property managers at the Crown Heights lot ordered him and others to get their cars out or be towed.
"All times day and night they had us going over, and there was never anybody there," Ketchum said.
Mark Warfield has been paying $400 a month for three years to park in the garage.
"I just got a call that, 'Come get your car, it's kicked off the lot, and that's all I know,'" he said.
And Warfield only got the warning call on Wednesday.
"I asked if my car is blocked in – I mean, I still have lots of questions," he said.
On top of that, the drivers already paid January parking rent in full.
"Telling you that your car that you can't get at is going to be towed by the New York Police Department," Ketchum said.
"It feels like our car was evicted," Warfield said.
The current property managers say the previous owners rented out parking spots to people who do not live in the building. The new managers took over at the end of December, and are now in the process of making this parking lot exclusive to tenants.
"We've contacted as many people, as much information that we have, whose vehicles are still here," said property manager Zac Brown. "We do not want to incur any further costs on people that are, you know, they paid money to previous operators. We don't want them to pay additional fees or anything like that for towing."
The drivers' January rent went to the previous lot owner, who listed a P.O. box in lieu of an office address and has not returned any of CBS2's calls.
Warfield was finally able to get his car on Thursday. But he said his keys were left inside and the car battery died from the recent cold spill.
Apparently, city parking can still be a pain – even when you pay for it.
The current property owner said they are continuing to call drivers before anyone is towed this weekend.
