By:Laura Lane
"Last week a tractor-trailer was there without the cab, and my view was blocked," Feinstein said. "I parked my car, got out and told the driver it was impossible to see. He told me if I didn't like it, to call the police."
Feinstein didn't call police because she didn't have the precinct number, and was hurrying to an appointment. Believing she had no choice, she carefully inched her way out to make the turn.
Inspector Patrick O'Connor, of the Nassau County Police Department's First Precinct, said that residents shouldn't call the precinct with complaints about illegally parked trucks. Rather, they should call 911.
During a meeting last week at state Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr.'s Freeport office, O'Connor first learned of the illegal parking at Hewlett and Seneca, as well as double parking by commercial trucks on Hewlett. He said he would increase enforcement patrols in the area.
"This is the first time I've heard of the problem, but I had my officers stop down and speak to Stop & Shop," O'Connor said. "I think the truckers are vendors, not Stop & Shop employees. But I told Stop & Shop that if they leave the trailer part of the truck in the middle of the road and impede traffic, we'll impound the truck. And if any trucks are illegally parked, we'll ticket them."
Joining O'Connor at Fuschillo's office were Stop & Shop representatives and Barry Fox, president of the Merrick Park Home Owners Association. The meeting was originally intended as a forum for discussion of the future renovation plans at Stop & Shop, which supermarket representatives said would take place this year. The issue of illegally parked trucks was added to the agenda by Fox, who appealed to Fuschillo for help.
Fox said, "The problems with the trucks have been chronic. Recently, they left a cab in the middle of Hewlett for three hours, only 100 yards away from Chatterton Elementary School. And often, out of four lanes, only one is open on Hewlett. Hewlett Avenue is being used as a transfer station by the shippers to and from Stop & Shop."
Faith Weiner, a Stop & Shop spokeswoman, said the store's management is aware of the problem. "We're working with the trucking company and any of the vendors to fix this problem," Weiner said. "We agree with Senator Fuschillo that this is a problem which needs to be fixed immediately."
Fox believes that many of the illegally parked trucks could go elsewhere while waiting to enter Stop & Shop's loading dock. "They don't have to park on Hewlett," Fox said. "They could stack the trucks on Benson Lane or put them in their own parking lot. These trucks park on both sides of Hewlett, even parked in the wrong direction."
Fox said he has received many calls from his members complaining of the dangers caused by trucks on Hewlett. One call came from Cynthia Friedman, who has lived on Seneca Drive since 1952.
"People say, Why did you move across the street from a mall? When I moved here, there were woods there," Friedman said, adding that trucks often park at Seneca and Hewlett, making it impossible for her to turn out of the Merrick Woods development. "I told my husband, 'Maybe it's not safe to exit out on Seneca Gate. Maybe we should go out of our way and leave by Seneca Place, which goes onto Smith Street.'"
Friedman and Feinstein said that erratic drivers on Hewlett Avenue add to the danger they face each time they try to leave their neighborhood. "The cars on Hewlett often speed to make the light at the next corner on Smith Street," Feinstein said. "God forbid anyone should get hurt, between the speeding cars and the double-parked trucks on Hewlett."
Feinstein added that she often sees truckers maneuver their vehicles in the middle of Hewlett Avenue, making illegal U-turns as they attempt to park near Stop & Shop's loading dock. She that said truck drivers "even hit the metal poles which are supposed to guide them. They're all bent."
Friedman wrote to Stop & Shop, complaining about the illegally parked trucks, but her correspondence went unanswered. Then she tried to take photos of the illegally parked trucks. "The truck drivers asked me not to take the pictures," Friedman said.
"I think maybe part of the problem is that in the '60s, when the loading dock was set up, the trucks were much smaller, and traffic on Hewlett wasn't like it is now," she said. Friedman believes conditions have changed. "Someday, somebody is going to get killed because they can't see, and I hope they don't wait for a tragedy before they do something."
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