7 On Your Side: 17-ton truck abandoned on Brooklyn street for 2 years
BUSHWICK, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A 45-foot-long semi-trailer truck unceremoniously dumped next to a Brooklyn high school has been gathering garbage and taking up precious parking spaces for the past two years.
Now, frustrated parents and teachers have had it -- turning to Nina Pineda and 7 On Your Side.
The truck is covered in graffiti and has been hogging up three precious pickup and drop-off spots in front of the Brooklyn High School for Law and Technology in Bushwick, and residents like Michelle Armstrong have no idea why.
The semi-trailer, which usually pulls an 18-wheeler, has been an immobile mystery.
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A street view from Google Earth shows the tractor in stuck in the same spot in fall of 2020, and to this day, there's not a ticket on it.
Parents complained to the school, and administrators said they complained to 311. But the cab on the corner of Broadway hasn't budged.
"People sometimes need to park, like if you drop off you kid or a school bus comes to pick up one of the kids," parent Ruth Tapia said. "It was hard, because there was nowhere to find parking."
And since it hasn't moved in two years, the street hasn't been cleaned underneath. It's not only an eyesore, it's become an outhouse.
"It stunk so bad to where it was like, ew, get away from me," student Leandra Arcos said. "I would try to walk by very quickly."
After a teacher who asked to remain anonymous sent us photos, we tried to find clues. There was no registration, no license plate. We flagged down a passing traffic cop for help.
The patrolman pointed out the vehicle ID panel was dismantled, and the license plate was shoved backward into the dash with only one digit visible.
The officer called his precinct, and we called the New York City Department of Sanitation and found out they cleared 4,042 derelict cars, trucks, trailers, boats, jet skis, and even a forklift, off city streets last year.
Summer derelict vehicle reports:
But they cannot dispose or recycle vehicles with a plate present. Those are abandoned, the responsibility of the police.
A day after our call, DSNY and the NYPD both investigated, and the hunk of junk was hauled away.
"The amount of complaints that they already had, they didn't do anything," Arcos said. "But the media got involved, and now they want to move it in 24 hours? That's crazy to me."
"Thank you, and go for 7," Armstrong said. "They are really on your side."
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