Hundreds Of Abandoned Cars Sit On Harlem Streets, Complaints Show

HARLEM, NY — More complaints about cars abandoned on the streets of Harlem have poured in during the first nine months of this year than in all of 2020 or 2019, records show.

All told, Harlemites have reported 526 abandoned vehicles to 311 since the start of this year, amounting to 132 more calls than in all of 2020 and 350 more than pre-pandemic 2019 — before the coronavirus emptied New York City's roadways and relaxed alternate side parking rules.

And Harlem is not alone. Across the city, the number of abandoned vehicle complaints has already risen by nearly 4 percent this year, to 34,979 overall, with three months remaining in 2021.

The trend has been reported in neighborhoods around the five boroughs, like Astoria, Queens, where neighbors tried for months to persuade the NYPD to tow an empty car that obstructed an Open Street, finally getting it moved last week.

Maps show the abandoned cars are littered across Harlem, from thoroughfares like 125th Street (five vehicles) and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (11 vehicles), to residential side streets. Click through the map below to explore each abandoned car complaint.

At a single address on West 141st Street, off Fifth Avenue near the Harlem River Drive, 11 complaints about an abandoned car were filed between January and September. The NYPD said it took action to fix the situation in just three of those cases.

Overall, most abandoned vehicles in Harlem have gone unaddressed, according to 311 records, with the NYPD saying it took no action in a majority of the complaints. Since January, police have issued 52 summonses for abandoned cars in Harlem, while taking unspecified "action" in another 180 complaints.

Have a Harlem news tip? Contact reporter Nick Garber at [email protected].

Patch reporter Kayla Levy contributed.