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08/02/2012 06:30 PM

NY1 For You: Residents Say Livery Cabs Block Their Driveways

By: Susan Jhun

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It's a cab fare that's not fair to one Queens neighborhood and frustrated residents reached out to NY1 For You. NY1's Susan Jhun filed the following report.

Parking is a daily struggle for Queens homeowner Renee Graham, even though she has her own driveway.

"I come home, I can't even pull in my driveway," she says. "The driveway's being blocked. I have to back into my neighbor's driveway some in order just to get in."

It's a frustrating and annoying process for Graham, who says the residential driveways on her street are constantly blocked by illegally parked livery cabs from the company U-Need Car Service located right across the street.

"You're running a business," she says. "You know you're not supposed to be parking and blocking our driveways. You need to have some type of stand in order for you to park your commercial vehicles."

Residents say the cabs have been blocking their driveways for almost a decade now, even blocking disabled Macie Fowler's access to Access-A-Ride.

"They park right in front of the spot that I have to take the Access-A-Ride in front of my door," she says.

After homeowners called NY1 For You, NY1 called U-Need Car Service and a manager told us their cars only park on that block temporarily, to either use the bathroom or pay or pick up money from their boss. He said their cars are supposed to be parked on Springfield and Hillside, which is far from the company’s store front. He said he’ll make sure to tell the cabbies to not park on the street anymore and to only park on their off-site facility.

NY1 then contacted the Department of Buildings and surprisingly found out a livery cab company is not even allowed to operate from that address.

A DOB spokeswoman told us any livery cab company operating at that address is doing so illegally and is subject to violations and legal action.

She went on to say residents should file a complaint and the agency will investigate.

NY1 also called the police and a spokesman said they have written tickets for blocked driveways on the street and they will continue to monitor to the situation.

NY1 For You will keep you updated.

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