Residents push for solutions as seemingly abandoned vehicles pile up across Riverdale area neighborhoods

Across New York City’s 50th Precinct, seemingly abandoned vehicles remain on public streets for weeks, even as 311 reports filed by residents eyeing removal pile up.

More than 650 abandoned or derelict vehicle complaints were filed in the 10463 and 10471 ZIP codes between January and August 2026. The Riverdale Press reviewed dozens of complaints and visited the reported locations. At several spots, vehicles were still where residents said they had sat for months despite repeated complaints.

Several displayed multiple parking summonses piled up beneath their windshield wipers, typically yellowed and water damaged. Many bore damage, whether a cracked windshield or dramatic, rusting dents. Some sat on tires long flat, dirt and debris piling up around the wheels.

Among them, a white commercial van near 5770 Fieldston Road was reported six times this year alone. Another vehicle on Post Road, parked across from 5235 Post Road, had flat tires, visible body damage and bags of garbage piled inside. One resident said it had not moved since at least January despite numerous 311 complaints. Multiple parking summonses remained tucked beneath the windshield wipers when The Press visited the site July 30.

North Riverdale resident Mike Hammond has become one of the neighborhood’s most persistent advocates around the issue, documenting vehicles, working with the 50th precinct and encouraging neighbors to make 311 reports.

“What the NYPD had told me was they wait for an accumulation of cars, because they can’t just book a tow and tow the cars,” he said. “They need to have at least 10 plus cars abandoned on the street, which to me seems a little outrageous.”

Residents now send him photographs and addresses of cars they believe have been abandoned. During his daily runs, Hammond checks whether vehicles have moved, photographs them and files new 311 complaints when they have not. Some have accumulated multiple complaints over several months while remaining parked in the same locations.

Residents told The Press abandoned vehicles do more than just occupy scarce parking spaces. They also create neighborhood eyesores and contribute to the perception that quality-of-life issues are going unaddressed.

Standing beside a stripped black Volvo on Fieldston Road, Hammond pointed to flies circling the vehicle and recalled another abandoned car that had become home to rodents.

“We had a mice infestation on this block, and I saw mice constantly coming from that car, “ Hammond said. “That’s why it’s a problem, because it affects homeowners, it affects renters, it affects everybody.”

Retired firefighter Robert O’Brien, who has lived in North Riverdale for 40 years, said he believes the problem has worsened since the pandemic.

“This has become a dumping ground for cars, and nothing gets done about it,” O’Brien said. “It takes forever.”

O’Brien has repeatedly reported a blue hatchback on Huxley Avenue, near West 262nd Street, telling The Press, which confirmed the vehicle’s location, he believes it has been parked for more than two years.

“You can see the leaves and the dirt around it,” he said. “You can tell the car never moves.”

Many said their biggest frustration is not simply that the vehicles remain, but that complaints are often marked closed while the problem continues.

Under the city’s 311 system, residents can report a vehicle that has remained on public property for at least 48 hours. Those complaints are routed to the New York Police Department. Vehicles without license plates are investigated by the New York City Department of Sanitation, or DSNY, which determines whether they meet the legal definition of a derelict vehicle.

A spokesperson for the NYPD said abandoned vehicle removals are handled through interagency operations with DSNY and the New York City Department of Transportation,  rather than by individual precincts.

That split in responsibility has left many residents uncertain about which agency is responsible when reported vehicles remain in place for months.

Council member Eric Dinowitz said no one should have to navigate city bureaucracy to get results, pointing to legislation he proposed that would distinguish complaints from “closed” to those that were actually resolved,

“If you’re a resident, you don’t care about which agency is responsible,” Dinowitz said. “You don’t care about the bureaucracy around you. You just want your neighborhood to look nice. You just want the health and safety and dignity that we deserve here in the Bronx.”

He also noted streets like the Henry Hudson Parkway service roads, where long stretches without residential addresses have become a ground zero for seemingly abandoned or derelict cars. When that is the case, residents often defer to marking the nearest intersection instead, creating what is ultimately an inaccurate report.

Hammond told The Press he’s sent the NYPD drawn-out maps, with squares and arrows pointing to where abandoned cars are located — despite having also provided 311 complaints and locations associated with them. However, legislation introduced by Council member Dinowitz may help alleviate that issue by allowing residents to submit GPS coordinates with 311 complaints.

“Whether it’s sanitation or NYPD, they can know particularly which car and exactly what location you’re referring to when you’re making your complaint,” Dinowitz said.

The department of sanitation told The Press complaints may be closed without a vehicle being removed if inspectors return and find it has been moved or license plates have been attached. Its biggest challenge, the agency said, is that vehicles tagged for removal are sometimes moved before inspectors return.

“In many cases, these vehicles belong to body shops, which will place plates on tagged vehicles or move them, which prevents us from towing the vehicles,” the department said.

DSNY also said it removed 13 derelict vehicles in Bronx Community District 8 so far this calendar year, compared with 35 during all of 2025. The agency said it has scheduled a joint towing operation with the NYPD in the area for early August.

The NYPD also told The Press a commanding officer of the 50th precinct is aware of neighborhood parking concerns. Two interagency towing operations conducted this year near Jerome Avenue resulted in 14 parking summonses and eight vehicles being towed.

Larger vehicles, such as RVs, require specialized heavy-duty tow trucks before they can be removed, said the NYPD, adding officers are continuing to work to remove them as quickly as possible.