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Volume XIX • Number 31 • August 16 - 22, 2012 •
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The parking lot piranhas are back on Broadway By MIAWLING LAM and ILEINI ROMERO Shoppers beware: The Staples parking lot has resumed its policy of towing the cars of customers who have shopped in the store and then kept their parking spot while visiting other businesses. Locals claim tow truck companies have been preying on motorists at the sprawling lot, located at Broadway and West 233rd Street. A case in point is Gary Axelbank, host of the BronxNet program “BronxTalk,” who expressed his dismay in a Facebook post on Saturday, August 11, about having his car towed just hours before. Axelbank said he parked in the private parking lot and purchased $136 worth of goods at Staples. At the time, the lot was half empty, he said, so he thought there would be no problem if he ran across Broadway to Garden Gourmet. He returned no more than 20 minutes later. “When I came back, my car had been towed,” he wrote on the social media site, adding that the tow truck operators then “extorted” $140 in cash. “They told me that if I want to use a card, then they would bring my car to West Farms and I could pick it up there, so I had to come up with cash.” When reached by phone on Tuesday, Axelbank said he questioned a Staples manager about the policy and said he was reluctant to patronize a store with such strict parking lot rules. The manager rebuffed him, responding that it didn’t matter if he never came back. “I understand I broke their law, but this is not a community-friendly way of doing business in The Bronx,”
Axelbank said. “There are ways to handle this so that they can preserve the sanctity of their private parking spaces and not offend their customers.” Former City Councilwoman June Eisland said she wasn’t surprised tow truck operators were back in force. She said the parking issue has irked locals for at least two decades and that the unrelenting enforcement was a lose-lose situation for all concerned. “It really seems to be, both then and now, counterproductive,” she told the Riverdale Review. “I understand the concept of not wanting commuters to park there, but the majority of people are coming to legitimately patronize the area and they’re getting towed. “What’s really galling is that even if you’ve shopped in Staples and then walk across the street to shop at another place, in their mind, that’s illegal.” During her tenure, Eisland—who preceded Councilman G. Oliver Koppell—tackled the thorny issue by forcing Staples and all other city merchants and landlords to install signs warning drivers that their cars would be towed if they left the premises and shopped elsewhere. At the time, Eisland said she also asked the local precinct to monitor the situation and ensure that the towing was being done according to the letter of the law. “There should be a compromise because it doesn’t help anybody. It only helps the tow truck companies,” she said. “Perhaps there could be a time limit so people can
park there and shop for an hour or two.” When The Riverdale Review visited the parking lot on Tuesday morning, there were no signs of tow truck operators. However, an employee at Staples predicted they would be back in the lot to monitor the situation the following day. The female employee also hinted that enforcement procedures had recently changed and that parkers will be given a grace period. “They come every other day and I think they now offer customers a 30-minute leeway,” she said. When pressed for further details, she clammed up and referred subsequent questions to a colleague. Staples spokeswoman Karen Pevenstein declined to answer specific questions about whether the towing policy had been revised. However, she confirmed a towing policy is enforced to ensure customers are provided adequate parking. “There are signs in the parking lot clearly explaining the towing policy,” she said. “The towing company does provide a monitor to stay in the lot at all times to ensure that Staples customers will not be wrongly towed. However, if a customer leaves Staples and continues shopping in another location, they are subjected to be towed. John, a Riverdale resident who declined to provide his last name, said his car was towed three years ago and that he, too, was forced to pay $50 to prevent his vehicle from being taken to the pound. “It’d be fair if there was a more visible warning,” he said.
Missing Kingsbridge kids try to take to high seas in Yonkers
THIS ICONIC BRONX BUILDING, the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, may hold the key to a huge resurgence of tourism to the Bronx and ultimately be responsible for pumping millions of dollars into our local economy. See editorial on Page 18.
By MIAWLING LAM Two Kingsbridge children who were initially reported missing by their parents allegedly crossed the city line and attempted to steal a boat in Yonkers. Yonkers police confirmed that a 12-year-old boy and an 11year-old boy were arrested and charged with attempted grand larceny on August 8 after they were spotted trying to steal a rescue fire boat. Coincidentally, the juvenile’s parents had reported them missing to officers from the 50th Precinct just hours earlier. According to PIX11, the boys disappeared just before midnight on Tuesday, August 7, near West 230th Street and Godwin Terrace. The father of one of the boys reportedly told police he had dropped his son off at the other child’s house and that the pair went missing while the father was outside talking with another person.
Commanding officer of the 50th Precinct Captain Kevin Burke said the missing report triggered an extensive land and air search of Riverdale that lasted well into the night. He said at least 12 officers canvassed the surrounding streets while a helicopter assisted in the search of Van Cortlandt Park. “We went all over,” Captain Burke said, adding that both children live in the Riverdale/ Kingsbridge area. “We were last told they made reference to sleeping in the forest, which we assumed was the park. “We were even five minutes away from sending the harbor unit to the lake at Van Cortlandt Park.” However, Captain Burke said, the search was called off after Yonkers police informed the precinct of the arrests. Yonkers Detective Lieutenant Patrick McCormack said a witness reported seeing two people Continued on Page 3