Blaring music and fast cars top talk at 106th

Residents packed last week’s meeting of the 106th Precinct Community Council in Ozone Park to voice their complaints about loud music, illegally overcrowded houses and cars racing through stop signs.

Before addressing the complaints, Capt. Thomas Pascale, the precinct’s commanding officer, advised parents who bring their children to school, or drop them off at daycare centers, not to leave their car keys and purses in their vehicle. He said there have been reports of individuals stealing credit cards from purses.

Pascale also warned residents to be on the lookout for scammers renting phantom apartments.

He said the swindler will post signs stating that he or she has apartments for rent and listing a phone number. Pascale said the con artist will show the apartment and ask for a deposit.

However, once the deposit has been received, Pascale said the prospective renter will not receive the keys and phone calls to the so-called broker will not be returned.

“If you are going to rent an apartment, please make sure you are dealing with a legitimate real estate broker,” Pascale said.

Several residents at the council meeting expressed their own concerns to Pascale.

Community Board 10 Chairwoman Betty Braton said that noise complaints have been going up since the end of last summer and asked about the precinct’s noise plan for the year.

“What is the plan of attack so that we can get this under control once again?” Braton asked.

Precinct Community Affairs Officer Ken Zorn said the plan was to first send out letters to the owners of problem locations and then to target the sites with a zero tolerance policy if noise complaints were received.

Zorn also noted that One Police Plaza has been providing additional resources to deal with noise complaints on weekends.

He added that during the summer months the precinct will also have officers patrolling from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays to specifically deal with noise complaints.

Precinct Special Operations Lt. Eric Campbell said that other officers will be addressing noise complaints as late as 4 a.m.

Angel Vazquez, of Ozone Park, complained about loud music emanating from cars parked on Gemini Field at Conduit Avenue and Linden Boulevard every Saturday and Sunday.

“I’m probably about a half a mile away from that location, and I can hear it from my backyard,” Vazquez said.

Zorn told Vazquez that the police are aware of the loud music at the location since Frank Dardani, president of the community council, who also lives near the field, has made them aware of it.

Zorn added that precinct officers have also issued summonses to those blaring music at the field.

Sinita Kishun complained about loud tunes coming from passing cars on Liberty Avenue near her office at 110th Street in South Richmond Hill.

She added that the music is so loud that, when the cars pass by, her front window vibrates.

The precinct conditions unit sergeant told Kishun that members of the unit issue summonses for that violation every day.

South Richmond Hill resident Fazal Khan complained that a neighbor on his block in the vicinity of 103rd Avenue and 110th Street was also playing loud music day and night and disturbing his quality of life.

He said that he has made numerous calls to 311, but the problem persists.

Kahn also alleged that more than 15 people were living in the residence.

Precinct officials said they would discuss his complaint in further detail with him at the end of the meeting.

Lindenwood resident Jose Zambrana, noting that there were 54 stop signs in the community, complained that cars were routinely going through many of them without stopping.

He said that the worst intersection was at 149th Avenue and Linden Boulevard.

Pascale said he would direct the precinct’s traffic officer to look into the stop sign violations.

Hafiz Baksh complained about a large number of livery cars crowding the intersection of Liberty Avenue and Lefferts Boulevard in South Richmond Hill every day trying to pick up fares, making for a dangerous traffic condition for both cars and pedestrians.

Pascale said the intersection was a target zone in the precinct, and he has assigned additional resources to the area.

The next meeting of the 106th Precinct Community Council will be held on Wednesday, April 11 at 8 p.m. at the precinct station house, at 103-53 101 St. in Ozone Park.