By Alexander Dworkowitz
In response to complaints from residents, a Whitestone towing company has decided to have its trucks use an entrance farther away from neighboring homes, a manager with the company said.
U.S. Tow Inc., which operates the Charles F. Follini Depot at 151-45 6th Rd., is using the back entrance on 6th Road instead of the main entrance on 152nd Street, said Mike Gordon, the company's general manager.
The company also will not tow vehicles on Fridays, a modification of its original plan, Gordon said.
“I heard a couple of rumors that the community was unhappy,” Gordon said. “I said, 'Let me try to head this off and minimize the noise.'”
Last week Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) held a meeting in front of the depot with about 40 residents who live nearby. The residents complained the trucks headed to the depot, which opened at the beginning of March, were a nuisance and possibly even a danger to children.
But Gordon and C.J. Follini, the managing partner of Kings Point Investors, which owns the property, objected to the criticism, saying the company was a good neighbor.
The 12-acre industrial property off the East River, which also is home to a bus company, a contractor and an electrical company, has been owned by various members of the Follini family for about 50 years, Follini said. Kings Point purchased the property from others in the family in January 2002, he said.
Over the years the land was used as a construction depot, the destination of many asphalt trucks, Follini said.
“What went on then makes this look like a graveyard,” he said.
Follini said the property, zoned for manufacturing, has been used for industry for close to a century, and the neighbors were well aware of the situation when they moved into the area.
A garbage truck company and construction company both were interested in using the property, but Kings Point turned them down, Follini said.
“Both would have been much worse,” he said. “Better money than I am getting paid, but it would have impacted too much [on the community],” he said.
Follini noted that his firm cleaned up the grounds before the towing company moved in.
Although Avella has called for the closing of the company, Follini was hesitant to criticize him, saying “he is properly representing his constituents” and pointing out that his company “has a wonderful relationship with the councilman.”
At the March 31 meeting in front of the depot, residents loudly complained about tow trucks speeding through their neighborhood.
Gordon, however, said his tow trucks obey the speed limit.
“I can tell you that these trucks will never speed,” he said. “They have no reason to speed.”
Gordon said the trucks do not respond to accidents and therefore are in no rush.
But James Raymond, who started a petition to close down the company, disagreed.
“They're going at least 40 miles an hour,” he said. “That's definitely excessive speed.”
Nevertheless, Raymond said he was happy that the company had decided to switch entrances.
Despite the move to use the other entrance, Avella said he would still continue to push to close the depot. The councilman said he had made a request with the city Department of Investigation to see if the company was in good legal standing.
“We are pursuing getting them out of there – period,” he said. “They can do some minor modifications to make it better. But they are still going through residential streets.”
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 141.
