ASTORIA, Queens (PIX11) -- Residents in Astoria are concerned after two vehicles with trash and bugs keep popping up in their neighborhood. They are calling on the city to step in.
Resident Dillon Breslin said he sees the vehicles almost daily. "It’s alarming, it’s disgusting, unpleasant," Breslin said.
Breslin said the vehicles have been around for about a year. He called 311 about them a month ago after he noticed what he believes are black soldier flies inside the vehicles.
"It’s a health hazard at this point to have these bugs, to have the rotten food around the neighborhood," Breslin said.
Residents believe the same man owns both vehicles.
“It’s gross. He’s got two cars like that. I’m surprised he’s not in his car. He usually sits in them," one neighbor said. “He rotates with the cars. Use this one, then that one, and vice versa.”
Other neighbors who did not want to go on camera told PIX11 News the owner is an older man who lives in a building in the area.
They said his apartment is in a similar condition and they are trying to get him evicted. Building management said they are trying too.
PIX11 knocked on the man’s door, but no one answered.
State Sen. Mike Gianaris is also concerned.
"There’s an insect infestation inside this vehicle," Gianaris said. “We don’t want that to spread to other vehicles. There’s a park here. Children could be playing here, so it's a serious matter."
Gianaris asked the city to help the owner immediately.
“The question is, when is the government entitled to take action when someone's interior of their vehicle has a problem? So we have to identify if there is a sanitary concern," Gianaris said. "What we’re seeing here is an indication that the person who owns the car may need help.”
Dillon Breslin agrees.
“I feel really terrible for the individual who is in this situation," Breslin said. “But also the city should be doing something ... These cars should not be kept on the street.”
The New York City Department of Sanitation said that by law, it can only remove vehicles that are derelict or abandoned, and these vehicles do not fall under those categories.
The NYPD said officers may issue summonses for expired registration/inspection and/or for sign violations, but neither of these vehicles appear to have violations.
It adds people can email communitylink@nypd.org to activate a response from the Chief of Patrol’s Office to visit an owner’s residence if they have concerns.
PIX11 News has also reached out to the mayor’s office and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and is waiting to hear back.
