Watch CBS News

Demanding Answers: What's Being Done To Stop Vehicles From Driving On Brooklyn Sidewalk?

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Last week, CBS2's Natalie Duddridge covered a story about school buses and other vehicles driving on the sidewalk to avoid double-parked cars blocking traffic in Borough Park, Brooklyn.

On Wednesday, she returned to demand answers.

Surveillance video captured a yellow school bus driving up on the sidewalk at 40th Street and Fort Hamilton Parkway to avoid traffic last week. Residents said they complained to police for months that cars have also been jumping the curb.

After CBS2's story aired, they said parking enforcement has been out in full force.

"First time in a while I've seen this much police activity, as far as handing out tickets," resident Mike Bade told Duddridge.

Bade said it's about time, as it was becoming all too common to see cars driving dangerously where pedestrians walk. He said one day, he was nearly hit.

"As I took a step out of my gate, a car came flying down the sidewalk, came all the way down and cut back into the street over here, the first opening they could get," he said.

Duddridge saw parking enforcement circling the block Wednesday, but she also found illegally parked vehicles, like a van on a sidewalk, and a line of double-parked cars holding up an ambulance – making residents wonder, what would happen in an emergency?

"I actually had to move my car farther up than where I was parked, because an ambulance couldn't get through, because someone didn't move their car," resident Roxanna Salazar said.

Some residents worry the increased enforcement is only temporary.

"They need to do more. I think this is just going to be a one-week thing and then I think next week, they probably won't come and then we're going to start with the problem all over again," said Salazar.

CBS2 reached out to the yellow bus company Jofaz Transportation. A spokesperson said the driver of the bus has been suspended and the company is warning its drivers that no matter how much traffic they're in, they have to wait or risk losing their jobs.

"I'm already late for 10 minutes, because they're double-parked," bus driver Edward Pukhkiy said.

Some residents say they don't think that ticketing illegally parked cars is doing enough to deter drivers. They want vehicles towed instead.

Tougher measures, they say, are needed to prevent someone from getting hurt.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.