New York City residents are told to call 311 to report quality-of-life concerns. But what happens when the problems persist? A group of frustrated Kingsbridge residents is asking this question, and is finding fewer and fewer places to turn for help.
In late May, a blue minibus advertising roadside mobile tire repairs set up shop on the corner of West 230th Street and Bailey Avenue. It’s the latest addition to the stretch between that corner and West 225th Street, a strip that’s become a hotbed for automotive services offered by unmarked vans.
“We’re angry,” Elizabeth Samaro, who lives across from an unlicensed car wash and the minibus, said. “[The people operating those businesses] just feel they can do whatever they want. It degrades the neighborhood. It puts a blight on the neighborhood.”…