From the New York Post: Dozens of families are illegally living in dilapidated trailers in the shadow of Citi Field — draining off water from fire hydrants and swiping electricity while running black-market auto repair shops.
The unsightly, gypsy-like encampment under the Whitestone Expressway, populated largely by Spanish-speaking migrants, has become a nightmare for residents and merchants along a stretch of Queens near the New York Mets’ home field — yet the city has done nothing, locals told The Post.
“We gave up calling the police,” Luke Huwang, manager of Empire State Autobody on Northern Boulevard, told The Post on Monday. “The police don’t touch them. The police will take their customers’ cars and impound them, but they leave the motorhomes and all these people here.
“They drink a lot,” Huwang said of the illicit street dwellers. “And they do the barbecue when the Mets play. They pull the electricity from the light poles and from above, you know, the underside of the roadway.”
The report explains that the group of illegal campers are living underneath a bridge in rundown RVs, motor homes and campers between 126th Street and 127th Place along Northern Boulevard.
It is unclear how they obtained the campers and vehicles, although the report notes that only one of the vehicles was seen with a legal license plate.
Locals in the neighborhood say the illegal campers use water from the fire hydrants to bathe and run illegal car washes, auto body and auto repair shops. They do most of their activities at night, to avoid detection by police.
One local man who spoke to the Post said the camper area is dangerous – especially at night – and explained, “They settle things with machetes around here.”
The man said the illegal encampment has been in place for over a year. It started with about 10 campers, and has now grown to nearly 100.
According to the report, most of those living in the illegal encampment don’t speak English.
READ MORE and view photos from the New York Post.
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