Bronx car dealership says video proves 'dirty sidewalk' summonses are unfair
BAYCHESTER, Bronx (WABC) -- In an Eyewitness News exclusive, a small business in the Bronx has been hit with several tickets for sanitation violations, but the owner says video proves he did nothing wrong and is being targeted.
The security camera video was clear, showing Rick Landau sprucing up the already clean sidewalk outside his family-run auto dealership at 10:34 a.m. Aug. 21.
Three minutes later a sanitation department vehicle is seen stopping at the Boston Road address. One week later, a $100 'dirty sidewalk' summons arrived in the mail, saying there was a 'large accumulation of napkins, paper, tissues, wrappers.'
"It's not true! It's horrible," said Landau. "It's horrible what is being done to me." ('Because you know it was never like that?') "It was never like that. It's clean. Clean street," he said.
It turns out in the last five weeks, the city issued four 'dirty sidewalk' summonses against the Baychester dealership. In its 65 years in business, that has never happened before.
The 91-year-old founder, Bernie Landau, asked the city for some answers, but didn't get any.
"Not one. I did get runarounds, I'll tell you that. But no answers," Bernie said.
The Department of Sanitation offered no explanation for how their summons and the security camera video show two very different assessments of the sidewalk there.
But in a statement, the department said, if a business owner wants to dispute a ticket - follow the directions on the reverse side of the notice.
The Landaus plan to do just that.
"Whoever did this ticket was maybe trying to raise money for the city or meet a quota because there was nothing on the sidewalk," said Josh Landau of B & L Auto Sales.
And Josh says the proof is on video.
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